


Prepared For The Future

by Nehkles, sarcasmIsOurStrength, WhatABummer



Category: Fallout 4, Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Family, Friendship, Gen, Moral Dilemmas
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-26 16:55:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 93,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7582264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nehkles/pseuds/Nehkles, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarcasmIsOurStrength/pseuds/sarcasmIsOurStrength, https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatABummer/pseuds/WhatABummer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Fallout 4 AU) Nick Wilde wants nothing more than to live a peaceful life and raise his son to be a better mammal than he was. What he gets instead is total nuclear annihilation. After being frozen in a Vault for 200 years, and having his son taken from him, he has no idea what to do next. Until he meets a particular bunny.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Beautiful Saturday Morning

_**Zootopia is property of Disney** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda** _

* * *

Over the past 200 years, many mammals have made their mark on post apocalyptic America. Some have brought life to the wasteland, ensuring all mammals would have clean water whenever they needed it. Others have brought death, destroying entire opposing armies that stand in their way. All of them have a story. This one starts in Massachusetts, on a beautiful Saturday morning, with the threat of nuclear war looming.

.

.

.

.

.

"Time for a whole new life." Nick sighs, as he looks at himself in the mirror, fresh out of the shower.

He wasn't kidding himself either. This really was going to be the start of something brand new for Nick.

His upbringing in the city of Boston was, at best, less than pleasant. Sure his parents cared very deeply for him. Not very much for each other, but they both wanted to give Nick the best shot he could have. The area where things got difficult was with the other mammals.

To them, all Nick Wilde ever was, and ever would be, was some shifty red fox who would probably steal everything they had and run if they let him get close to them. They never cared that he would never steal anything from anyone, that he didn't want to hurt anyone. All they ever saw was a shifty, untrustworthy fox.

This amount of animosity towards the fox at such a young age had a very strong impact on him. If they were only gonna see him as a thief, or con-man, then he saw no reason to try to be anything better.

So when he was around 12 he made his very lucrative start in the life of organized crime. He would do the odd job for other guys, who had more guts to do bigger crimes. He would do small things, run messages between drug warehouses, or be a lookout during a break in.

His personal favorite job though was the one he did for himself.

The Hustle.

It never felt right to him to just take someones things from them without them knowing. His parents had put it in his mind that it was never, under any circumstance, okay to steal from anyone. So what he perfected was the art of manipulation. He was able to convince mammals to buy, or trade practically anything. The trick was making people want it, and this he excelled at.

Doing this for around 19 years proved to be quite profitable for the young fox, and things seemed to be going well for him. He had a nice apartment downtown, a steady income flow, even a nice vixen to keep him company. Everything was going fine for Nick.

Until the baby.

The previously mentioned vixen, Clare, and Nick had been getting 'better aquatinted' for quite some time. They were always careful, making sure that a child was not coming their was any time soon. His friend Finnick always said they were just flirting with danger. He would turn out to be right, thanks to them having a lot more beers and a lot more hormones in their systems than usual one particular night. Nick wan't exactly ready to be a parent, but he didn't just want to just forget about his own kid. His parents had almost this exact same situation happen when they had Nick, and he was able to have a healthy relationship with both of them.

So he helped Clare with anything she needed during the pregnancy, food, a place to stay, anything involving doctors. They actually became pretty close during this time, even trying to make their own relationship work out. As much as it was a crazy situation for Nick, he was actually pretty happy during this time.

Nick didn't exactly know what to expect the day the baby came. He thought there would be some emotions, bit of happiness, bit of relief if everything went well, a lot of sadness if everything didn't. What he didn't expect was how much he would care. He hadn't even know the kid for thirty seconds and he already cared more for this tiny little thing than anything in the world. Laying in his mothers arms, wrapped up in a little tiny baby blanket, was Shaun Wilde.

They brought Shaun back Nick's apartment, which he and Claire now shared, and began life as parents.

And things were going great.

Until Clare left.

One night they were discussing the future, what they would do for Shaun.

And the next morning she was gone.

Nick tried to get into contact with her. He called he work, called her friends, even her father, who still hated Nick's guts for what he did to his daughter. None of them had any clue at all where she would've went. He tried to find her for weeks, but never found a trace.

He thought over what he wanted Shaun to be one night when he finally gave up on finding Clare. He realized that the kind of work he did, hustling people out their money and possessions, was one of the last things he wanted Shaun to do with his life. He wanted his son to have an honest profession, to not have to dodge the question when people asked what he does for a living. If he grew up in downtown Boston, having to deal with the same crap Nick had to when he grew up, then Shaun wouldn't be anything better.

So he moved.

He moved to a nice suburb a little ways northwest of Concord. Nice little place by the name of Sanctuary Hills. The place wasn't exactly cheap, and some of the neighbors were a bit concerned about having a fox in their neighborhood, but it was someplace where he hoped Shaun would have a better shot than he did.

Nick finished drying his fur and walked back into his bedroom to get dressed for the day. He had gotten a job in Concord, at an ice cream shop. Not the most luxurious or highest paying job, but money wasn't exactly an issue. He had enough saved up that he afford to spend a little time at a job that was less demanding. Just a place to start before finding more permanent work.

He walked out in his signature hawaiian shirt and tie combo. If anyone he knew was in Concord they could recognize him pretty easily thanks to his outfit choice, but he doubted any of his old contacts would be all the way out here.

He went into the room opposite his, Shaun's room, and made sure he was doing okay. As he looked down at his son, he couldn't help but see a lot of himself in Shaun. He had the same emerald eyes, same color of red on his fur, nearly identical shade of brown on the tips of his ears and around his paws and feet. As much as he didn't really like to admit it, he was glad that Shaun didn't look a lot like Clare.

 _'If she ever tries to find him...'_ he thought to himself. He shook his head, trying to get rid of that thought and focus on getting reading for work. Taking one last look at Shaun, he headed towards the kitchen to start his breakfast.

He had to admit, he really did like his new house. It wasn't the biggest house in the neighborhood, but what it lacked in size it made up for in comfort, and style. He had a nice kitchen, comfy couch, a fireplace, along with a great backyard. He knew Shaun was really going to like that backyard when he's older.

His thoughts were interrupted by the phone ringing. He quickly answered.

"Wilde Speaking."

"Mr. Wilde…" a older female voice said. "It's Abby, just letting you know that I'll be their in around 20 minutes."

"Ah, thank you for letting me know Abby." He said

Nick of course couldn't just leave Shaun all alone while he was at work, so he hired a sitter to come in from Lexington to come by and look after him. Abby was a coyote, and came highly recommended by one of his neighbors. He could've gotten one of those Mr. Handy robots that some of the neighbors had, to help around the house and look after Shaun, but those were expensive to buy, expensive to maintain, and he didn't really trust them around Shaun.

After saying goodbye to Abby, he poured himself some coffee, and a bowl of Sugar Bombs. As he ate, he grabbed the newspaper and read the headline, 'Case Closed on Crime Boss Eddie Winter.'

 _'Good.'_ Nick thought to himself. He had done a few odd jobs for the old shrew in the past, and the guy was nothing short of a scumbag. Nick got lucky, but there was the occasional story of mammals who didn't get the job done right, and payed the price for it.

Nick read up on the situation with the war with China. The Chinese were being pushed out of Alaska, and US troops were being stationed in several places in Southeast Asia. By the looks of it. The conflict was far from over. Many people of course had fears of nuclear war, with both countries having stockpiles of nukes at the ready.

 _'More of the same.'_ he thought to himself. He was certainly glad that any foreign invaders wouldn't be able to get anywhere near him and Shaun, but he still didn't like that they were fighting anyway. Of course, he kept that opinion to himself. He didn't want to be put under investigation for being a communist. Plus he was pretty sure one of his neighbors was a veteran, so he definitely didn't want to say anything around him.

Finishing breakfast, he saw that Abby was still around 10 minutes away. He decided to kill some time by watching some television. Currently an add for the Fat-Man mini nuke launcher was playing. Not to purchase of course, just to show everyone how well protected we are. He soon though heard the doorbell ring.

 _'Is Abby here already?'_ he thought as got up to go answer the door. _'She still had about 8 minutes to go, maybe she got here early.'_ Pulling the door open looked down to see a stoat in an orange business coat and hat, holding a clipboard, smiling up at him before saying, "Good Morning! Vault-Tec Calling!"

"Umm… good morning." Nick said nervously. Why did Vault-Tec come to his door? He hadn't registered in any vaults.

"Isn't it?" the stoat said, "Just look at that sky out their!"

"Yep." Nick said, wanting him to get to the point.

The stoat cleared his throat and began his sales pitch.

"I'm visiting today on behalf of Vault-Tec, talking to anyone in Sanctuary Hills that hasn't yet reserved a spot in the local vault, Vault 111. I understand you haven't at this point, is that correct Mr… Wilde?" He said, looking down at his clipboard.

"That's correct pal. Don't need to spend money on something I'll never use"

"Oh, I understand you sir." the salesman said. "It's just that… the big kaboom is, well… inevitable, Im afraid. You just need some safety in times like these. Just think of it like insurance! You have insurance for your house, your car, even for you!"

He wasn't wrong. He did have insurance for his house, car, and himself. But this is an entirely different situation right?

"Do you have any kids Mr. Wilde?"

The question caught Nick a bit off guard. "Yes. I have a son."

"Well don't you want to make sure that no matter what he has a life to look forward to?"

Nick thought for a moment. About everything. Shaun, the war escalating, how he could be prepared for a worst case scenario. He made plans to make sure Shaun grew up to be happy. None of these plans accounted for nuclear war though.

He did want Shaun to grow up. To have a good life.

Great. He was being hustled.

Well not really. It's not like the vaults didn't exist or anything. Hell, he'd seen the construction of one back in Boston.

"Alright, you make a fair point." Nick said "What do I need to do?"

"Excellent!" the salesman said "It's just a matter of filling out some information, along with a deposit fee of course."

Nick filled out all the necessary paperwork, and paid the necessary fees to reserve a spot in the vault.

It had cost quite a bit, but making sure Shaun would be safe was more important to him than having a little spending money.

"Alright, thats everything! Just gonna walk this over to the vault. Congratulations on being prepared for the future!" the salesman said as he walked away.

"Umm… thanks again." Nick said as he closed the door.

Checking the clock, he saw that Abby should be arriving any minute now and he could go to work. He decided to go check up on Shaun again before she got here.

He was awake now, giggling as the mobil above his crib was spinning around.

"Don't worry buddy," Nick said softly. "I won't let anything happen to you."

He bent his head down and kissed Shaun's forehead before heading back to his living room.

As he walked in, he saw the panther on the new look very stressed. Like he'd just heard the worst news of his life.

 _'What's going on?'_ he thought, as he went to turn up the volume.

"… have confirmed reports, I repeat, confirmed reports of… nuclear detonations in, New York and Pennsylvania… My God..." was all he said before the newscast cut of, and the sound of nuclear sirens going off could be heard.

"Shaun." Nick said to himself. He only had one thing on his mind.

He had to get his son to that vault.


	2. Your New Home

_**Zootopia is property of Disney** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda** _

* * *

As Nick burst out his front door, holding Shaun in his arms, one thing repeated in his mind over and over.

_'Get to the Vault, Protect Shaun.'_

As he ran down the street, he could see his neighbors practically throwing things into suitcases, gathering anything they could as they started to run for the vault. The sound of the sirens still blaring loudly into everyones ears.

Crossing the small wooden bridge leading to the vault, he saw two of his neighbors spill their luggage, and they began furiously packing it back in. Nick considered stoping to help them pack up quickly. He would've too if a vertibird hadn't flown over them, reminding him of the grim reality of their situation. In mere minutes, they would be consumed by atomic fire.

_'Get to the Vault, Protect Shaun.'_

He approached the crowd of people piling up at the fence that marked the perimeter of the vault. There was a wolf in a military uniform standing out front, with two rhinos in power armor standing on either side of him, each wielding a minigun. He saw the salesman that sold him the spot in the vault standing in front of the wolf, screaming his head off.

"That's absurd! I AM Vault-Tec!" the salesman screamed at the wolf.

"You're not on the list, You don't get in!" the wolf snarled back.

"I'm going in! You can't stop..."

"SIR!" one of the rhinos yelled, spinning up his minigun, and aiming it straight at the salesman. Several mammals in the crowd screamed at the sight, and Nick held Shaun more tightly to his chest.

"Oh oh oh, okay!" the salesman said with fear in his voice, as he raised his paws and quickly backed up. He then turned around and ran back towards Sanctuary Hills, screaming "I'M REPORTING THIS!"

 _'This man gave me salvation, but Vault-Tec never reserved a spot for him?'_ Nick thought to himself. If not for that stoat he and his son would have no chance. Now the man had no chance of making it out alive.

The rhino lowered his weapon, seaming visibly relaxed at the fact that he didn't have to gun anyone down.

"If you're in the Vault Program, step forward otherwise return home!" he yelled, getting back into his 'ready for battle' stance.

As more mammals began to beg, and plead, or even demand that they let them in, Nick pushed his way up to the front of the crowd, hoping that his name had been placed on the list in time.

"Hey!" Nick screamed at the wolf, "We need to get in, we're on the list. Nick and Shaun Wilde."

The wolf eyed him suspiciously before looking down at his clipboard. If their names weren't placed on the list in time, there was nope hope in the world that they would survive.

"Nick Wilde, adult male, red fox. Shaun Wilde, infant male, red fox." He said looking back up at the pair, as if he couldn't believe they actually had a spot in the vault. "Alright, go on ahead." he said as he stepped to the side to allow them to pass.

"Oh my God, thank you!" Nick breathed with a heavy sigh of relief.

When he passed the rhinos, he heard a familiar voice call his name.

"Mr. Wilde!" the voice shouted.

Nick quickly turned around to see Abby, standing behind the fence, with a terrified look on her muzzle, like she was asking him to help in any way. He knew he couldn't do anything to get her in, but still he considered anything he could do at that point to help anyone behind the fence. He stood there for several seconds before a voice snapped him back to reality.

"Sir this way!" a cheetah in a blue jumpsuit said, motioning him further towards the vault.

Nick stared at the cheetah, before looking back at Abby and all the other horrified mammals standing behind the fence, each of them waiting for the end to come.

He had to move. The bombs would be here any second, and he had return focus to the only thing that mattered.

_'Get to the Vault, Protect Shaun.'_

He turned back to the cheetah, and began running further up the hill, trying to drown out any thoughts of the countless people that had no chance of getting anywhere safe in time.

As he approached the top he saw several mammals stand on top of what looked like a giant mechanical cog. "On the platform, in the center!" the cheetah said, pointing at the others. Nick ran to it, and stood as close to the center as he could, as if it would somehow make the elevator descend faster.

"All right, send it down!" one of the workers said.

Nick had made it. He and his son were going stay alive. All because of some random stoat that he only met 15 minutes ago. He looked down at Shaun, who had been crying due to the sound of the sirens blaring.

"Shh, hey it's okay buddy. I told you I wouldn't let anything happen to you." he said, smiling.

He looked up to see a flash, brighter than anything he'd seen in his whole life. He shielded his eyes with his one free arm before he heard a blast, louder than anything he could think of. He lowered his free arm to see that the sky had turned red. A mushroom cloud grew on the horizon, spreading out the clouds above it, the shockwave visibly racing towards them.

"NOW, NOW, SEND IT DOWN NOW!" another worker screamed at the control booth.

Nick turned away from the blast, shielding Shaun with his own body, and holding him tighter than he ever had before. He suddenly felt the ground below him start to move, as the elevator began to descend. As the shockwave careened towards them, Nick closed his eyes, bracing for impact. He felt the air over him swish violently forward, as his fur and ears were pushed forward as well. Opening his eyes he saw the elevator going lower into the vault, and looked up to see a red sky, along with branches and leaves blowing above the opening, as the doors to the top of the vault began to close.

* * *

As the elevator slowed to a halt, Nick wore a completely shocked expression on his muzzle. He couldn't believe what just happened. He had just survived a nuclear attack, only by making it to a vault at quite possibly the last possible second. He looked at Shaun once again and hugged him, still not quite believing his luck.

"All right!" a tiger in a jumpsuit, and what looked like some kind of armor, said to everyone on the elevator. "Everyone proceed up the stairs in and orderly fashion!" he said, pointing to the set of stairs to his right.

"Don't Worry!" the pig behind him said "We'll get everyone situated in your new home, Vault 111!"

Everyone on the elevator slowly moved forward, none of them really believing that they had just survived. They all made their way into the vault, being checked off and entry list by a mouse as they entered and scanned for any signs of radiation. Nick slowly made his way through the entry process before reaching a beaver handing out jumpsuits. She looked at him, smiling, before looking through different boxes for the right size.

"Here you go! Your brand new vault-suit!" she said cheerily, handing him the fox sized jumpsuit.

"Uhh… thanks." he said, throwing the strange clothing over his shoulder. "What now?"

"Oh, just follow the doctor here, he'll show you where to go!" she said, turning to the sheep in a lab coat behind her. "They're all yours doctor." she said to him.

"Mr. Wilde is it?" the doctor said. Nick nodded his head, wondering what the sheep wanted with him. "And this must be Shaun, correct?" he said pointing to the young fox in Nick's arms. Nick nodded his head again.

"Excellent. I just wanted to come by and make sure he was doing okay. We weren't expecting to have any infants in the vault so early."

Nick eyed the doctor. "Weren't expecting any? Does that means you guys don't have any baby supplies stored down here?" Nick asked with slight worry in his voice.

"Oh no, don't worry. We had supplies for infants stocked when the vault was built. We just didn't have any registered until Shaun here."

"Oh, good" Nick sighed with relief, knowing that his son had the necessary supplies he would need to grow up properly.

"There's nothing to worry about Mr. Wilde. I'm certain both you and Shaun will love it here. This is one of our most advanced facilities." He said, smug practically oozing from his voice. "Not that the others aren't great mind you..." He continued to speak, but at this point Nick wasn't paying attention. His thoughts came back to the mammals above ground. So many innocent mammals, gone in the blink of an eye, never having a chance to escape death. But knowing what he knew about radiation, the ones that didn't die in the direct blast were in for an even worse hell. Radiation poisoning their bodies, leading to one of the worst deaths one could ever imagine. He wondered, how many mammals were in agony right now, as he walked safely through this underground bunker? Had anyone he knew made it to safety? Had his parents? Had Finnick? Had Clare?

"How long do you think we'll be down here?" Nick asked, interrupting the doctor from his spiel.

"Oh we'll be going over all that in orientation." the doctor replied. "Right now however, we're going to get everyone decontaminated. Just through that door up there." he said, pointing to the door straight ahead of them. "But first, you'd better change into your vault-suit. There's a bathroom here to our left, why don't you go on in? I can hold onto Shaun for you while you change."

Nick's ears perked up slightly after hearing that. With all he had just been through, he had no intention of leaving Shaun with anyone else anytime soon.

"Uhh, no thanks. I can handle him." he said to the sheep before stepping inside the bathroom.

Nick found the vault-suit to be a very strange piece of casual wear. It was all one piece, with a zipper at the back for the wearer to enter. It was actually quite tight, more tight than Nick would've liked, but at the same time seemed to flex and stretch to fit the wearer's body shape. Stepping out of the bathroom with Shaun, he turned to the door leading to the decontamination room and went inside.

As he walked past all the decontamination pods, he couldn't help but notice all the tubing running along the ceiling and into the large storage tanks in the room. What kind of stuff was running through those tubes?

 _'Must be some serious chemicals inside those tanks.'_ Nick thought. _'They must be really serious about keeping this place clean.'_

Approaching the back of the room, he saw the doctor standing next to the pod on the left side of the room.

"All set to go doc?" Nick asked.

"We should be ready to go here in a moment." he replied. "Could you put Shaun in that smaller pod over there please?"

Nick tilted his head in confusion and looked to his right to find a much smaller pod, laid down horizontally on a metal table, with the small door facing up.

"Can't I just bring him in with me? Nick asked.

"I'm afraid not. You see we have to be very particular with the amount of chemicals we use on each mammal. Using too much can create some very harmful side effects. Since Shaun here is an infant, he is going to have to have a smaller amount than you are. You understand, we're just trying to look out for his health Mr. Wilde."

"All right..." Nick said nervously while nodding his head. The one of the last thing he wanted to do right now was separate himself from Shaun, but he would rather leave Shaun alone for a moment than have him become hurt.

He carefully placed Shaun in the infant sized pod and began to walk to his own before he heard crying behind him. He rushed back to comfort his son.

"Hey, don't worry now buddy, I'm not going far. I'll just be over there." he said, placing his paws gently on the side of his son's muzzle. He seemed to calm down thanks to his father's touch, and Nick headed back to his own pod.

"All set?" the doctor asked. "Just step inside, and we can begin the decontamination process."

Nick watched all the other mammals step inside their pods and have the doors close. He took a deep breath, and stepped inside his own pod.

"Just relax Mr. Wilde, this will only take a second." the doctor said, closing the pod door and stepping away.

As he was getting relaxed, a computerized voice began to speak.

" **Resident secure. Occupant vitals: normal."**

 _'How reassuring.'_ Nick thought to himself.

" **Procedure Complete..."** the voice said.

' _Wait was that it?'_ he thought. _'There really is nothing to it huh?'_

" **...in 5..."**

Nick began to feel cold. Like all the warmth in his body was slowly being drained from his body.

" **...4..."**

_'What's happening? Why is it so cold?'_

" **...3…"**

 _'No, stop this!'_ He tried to move, to do something to open the pod. But he was so cold he could barely move.

" **...2..."**

_'NO! SHAUN!'_

" _ **...1..."**_

Nick was able to take one last breath before his vision faded, seeing nothing but white.


	3. Out of Time

_**Zootopia is property of Disney** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda** _

* * *

As Nick regained consciousness, he heard the computerized voice speaking, though, he was still to exhausted to hear what it was saying

Nick slowly began to regain his feeling in his arms and legs, and his vision return, no longer white as snow. Although he now had some limited movement, he was still freezing cold. He was shivering as he took in the area around him.

Frost had accumulated around the edges the window of the pod door. Looking outside, he saw the other pods like this as well, with frost gathered on each mammals personal view into the outside. He quickly eyed the small pod across from him. The one containing Shaun.

 _'I'm getting you out of here'_ Nick thought. He didn't know exactly what they just did to everyone, but it sure as hell wasn't 'decontamination.' He wasn't going to stick around to see what other kinds of crap these guys might try to pull on him, or his son.

He tried his best to push the door to his pod open, but it wouldn't budge. That, combined with the fact that he was still freezing and could hardly move, meant that there was no way he was getting out from the inside.

"Hey, let us out of here!" he yelled, pounding his fist against the pod window, hoping someone on the outside would here him.

After around a minute of banging on the door, he saw someone appear to the right of his pod. It looked like a feline wearing some kind of light blue environmental suit.

"Hey, Hey! Look, please just let us out of here!" he said to the strange figure. They quickly broke eye contact, turing their attention to the small pod across from Nick.

"Don't you dare go near him!" he screamed at the feline, as he pounded on the door even harder.

The feline looked down at the pod, examining it for a brief second before turning their head to the right.

"This is the one, here sir" she said.

A weasel then walked into Nick's view. They wore some kind of leather jacket, and had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. A knife sat in a sheath on the side of the weasel's belt. On his left arm, there was what seemed to be some type of metal brace, seeming to offer quite a bit of protection. He held some kind of revolver pistol in his right hand.

"Open it." the weasel said

"NO! STOP IT!" Nick yelled. These people were trying to take his son. The only thing in this world he cared about anymore, and these mammals were just going to grab him as he was powerless to do anything.

The feline carefully opened the hatch and pulled out a small infant fox, crying due to the extreme cold he was placed under.

"YOU PUT HIM DOWN YOU BASTARDS!" Nick shouted, his cries being ignored by the two mammals..

"Come on, get the kid warmed up and lets go." the weasel said.

The feline walked towards the exit, carrying Shaun, as the weasel approached Nick's pod.

"Good thing we still have the backup." he said, getting close to the pod window, allowing Nick to see a long scar running across his left eye.

Nick stared at the weasel, hatred showing in his eyes. He barred his teeth and put his muzzle as close to the glass as he could.

"When I get out of here, you're a dead man." Nick said through snarling teeth.

The weasel smirked and started walk slowly towards the exit.

"Good luck with that." he said sarcastically, exiting the view of Nick, as a computerized voice spoke once more.

" **Cryogenic stasis reinitialized."**

Nick once again began to feel cold, as his vision faded once again.

* * *

When Nick awoke, it was with a long gasp, followed a fit of coughing. He felt like he hadn't taken a breath in hours. Slowly coming to his senses, he remember what had happened.

His son had been taken.

He began pounding his fist on the door once again, and to his surprise it actually opened up. He quickly tried to step outside, but he collapsed onto the floor, his legs giving out. It felt like he hadn't used his legs in years. He soon regained his strength, and began to run towards the door to the room. He stopped before he left, remembering what the computer had said. 'Cryogenic stasis reinitialized.' Everyone there had been frozen for who knows how long. Nick himself had been put under again when Shaun was taken. He wanted to get out there and search the vault for his son, but he had no idea where in the vault those mammals could've taken him. If he was to find his son, he would need help. He looked back into the room, at all the other pods containing mammals. He couldn't just leave them here, to be experimented on, while he made an escape. He went back in and pulled down on the manual release handles.

" **Malfunction in Cryo Pod manual release override."** the computer said

 _'what?'_ Nick thought. The doors couldn't manually be opened. _'Maybe theres a terminal I can use.'_ Looking around the room, he quickly found the terminal connected to all the pods. He opened the terminal and quickly looked over his shoulder, not knowing if any security would show up soon. He began to search for a way to open the pods. He opened the tab titled 'Cryogenic Array.'

**'Cryogenic Array: Offline. Premature termination resulting in system failure. Isolated manual and remote overrides detected. Controls disabled.'**

_'What? There's no way to open them?'_ He went back to the home screen, and opened the tab titled 'Life Support.'

**'Life Support: Offline. Premature termination resulting in system failure. Isolated manual and remote overrides detected. Controls disabled.'**

_'No…'_ Nick thought. _'No, no, they can't all be dead.'_

A quick look through the 'Occupant Status' tab would confirm his fears. Every single mammal in the pods was long dead. All of them killed by asphyxiation due to the life support failing. If all the mammals in these pods were dead, where was the rest of the vault staff?

Walking into the corridor, still shivering from the cryogenics, Nick made his way to the front, wondering what had happened to everyone in here.

To his annoyance, the door leading to the vault entrance was jammed shut. He would have to find another way around. The area he had to go through seemed to have the power out, with only a few small lights on that were powered by an emergency generator. For most mammals this would be a problem. Luckily Nick was a fox, and had eyes were well equipped for a situation like this, as he began making us of his night vision. Making his way through the vault, each room he found had no signs of life inside. If no one was even inside the vault, then where was Shaun? The only place he could be was somewhere on the surface. Stepping through a door, trying to find his way around, he saw a creature latched on to the other side of a window to the main generator room.

 _'What the hell is that?'_ he thought. It looked exactly like a cockroach, but it was so much larger than any roach he'd ever seen. When he approached the window, it flew off and landed on the floor several feet away, causing Nick to jump.

_'Giant roaches? I knew radiation did some crazy stuff, but THIS!?'_

Continuing through more doors, he came upon another roach, sitting on the floor. It turned to him as soon as the door opened, and started crawling towards him.

He quickly looked for anything he could use to defend himself. He could use his claws if it came down to it, but he would prefer an option that wouldn't get his paws so dirty. He eyed a baton sitting on a table and swiftly made a move for it. As the roach jumped for him, he swung the baton, hitting the roach out of mid air at full force. The roach was knocked into the wall, leaving a splatter of blood, before it crumpled to the floor, dead.

Moving through a few more rooms, and killing a few more roaches, he found his way to an office like room containing a large, circular desk and a small armory on the far side. He made note of several items sitting on the desk.

A pistol, 10mm by the looks of it, some ammo for said pistol, and around 3 stimpaks. He picked up the pistol first and made sure it was loaded, certain he would need it. He knew how to fire a gun properly. Living in a rough part of town made him need to be able to protect himself, so he bought a pistol and took it to a shooting range every few months to refresh himself. He had never had to use it on anyone luckily, but he still had that knowledge with him.

He took the bullets for the pistol off of the table and stored them in his vault-suits pockets, along with the baton, hoping he could find something to cary everything soon.

The stimpaks would be very useful. A medical syringe that would administer healing quickly to anywhere in the body. He didn't know exactly how they were made, but he knew they were damn effective.

Looking through the small armory, he pickup up more ammo for his pistol. He hoped that the case containing some strange weapon would be unlocked, but unfortunately it wasn't. He could try his hand at picking it, but he didn't have anything he could use to pick it. He gave up that and checked the bedroom connected to the office. Inside, sitting on the bed, he found a backpack practically waiting there for him. It was a bit big for him, clearly not designed for a fox. But after tightening the straps, he was ready to move on.

After clearing a long corridor filled with about six roaches, thanks to his new pistol, he finally found himself at the main entrance to the vault. He walked up to the vault door control panel, a skeleton of what looked like a sheep in a lab coat laid just below it.

 _'_ _You got what was coming to you._ _'_ Nick thought. He could find little remorse for one of the mammals that was ultimately responsible for his son being taken.

He tried to pry open the hatch to the button that would open the door before the computerized voice began to speak.

" **Pip-Boy interface required to..."** it said before being cut off by static, its audio files corrupted. **"Have a nice day!"**

Nick looked down at the skeleton below him. On its left arm sat the pip-boy in question. He had heard about these things. A mobile computer that was stored easily on the wearers forearm. Apparently everyone who reserved a spot in the vault was gonna get these when the time came to head into the vaults. He had wondered when he first entered the vault when he would get his. Trying his best to take the pip-boy without moving the skeleton to much, Nick eventually had it powered up, and secured it to his left forearm. He took the extendable cable connected to the pip-boy and plugged it into the console, opening the hatch the button. He pressed the button hard, eager to get out of this grave and find his son.

As the vault door opened, sparks flew off of it, and rays of light began to shine through the opening. The platform extended, allowing Nick to make his way across to the elevator. As he approached the elevator, he took one last look behind him at the open vault door.

"Good riddance you bastards." Nick cursed.

He pressed the button on the side of the elevator, and it began to ascend, the computerized voice saying **"Thank you for choosing Vault-Tec!"**

* * *

As the hatch above him opened, Nick got his first bit of sunlight in what seemed like forever. Shielding his eyes with his arm, the elevator came to a stop and Nick's eyes slowly adjusted to the light. When he was able to see clearly, he stopped in his tracks.

He saw the neighborhood, Sanctuary Hills, lying in ruins. Several house had completely collapsed, and all the others looked worn down. The trees were all slightly blackened, and none of them, not even the giant oak tree in the center of the cul-de-sac, had any leafs on them. He could see the Concord water tower, looking old and rusted. He could even barely make out the Boston skyline in the distance.

 _'How long was I down there?'_ he thought to himself. Turning on his pip-boy, he looked at the date on the screen. October 27th, 2287.

2287.

Over 200 years.

He just stared at everything in complete shock. After seeing this the weight of everything had finally hit him.

The world he knew was gone. It had been ripped apart and this is whats left of it. His son had been taken from him, by unknown mammals with an unknown agenda, who could be anywhere right now. Everyone he ever knew and loved was dead. Anything he cared about had turned to ashes.

He fell to his knees, completely lost at what to do. With everything dawning on him, he could only do one thing.

He cried. He cried for his parents. He cried for his son. He even cried for Clare, and every innocent mammal that had been destroyed by the atomic fire 200 years ago.

He had never cried much in his life, only a few notable times in his childhood, when the other mammals had gotten to him. It was why he adopted his policy of 'never let them see that they get to you.' But with everything in his life going wrong, he no longer cared.

He sat there, on top of that vault elevator, in a blue and yellow jumpsuit, holding himself in his arms, with tears rolling down his muzzle.

And he cried.


	4. Quite The Journey

 

 

 

_**Zootopia is property of Disney** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda** _

* * *

Over the past 200 years, many mammals have made their mark on post apocalyptic America. However very few of them have worked alone. Some were accompanied by friendlier super mutants; big, green, furless creatures that were once ordinary mammals but were now something else. Others had snipers watch their backs, or even something as simple as an eyebot. Nick too would not be alone on his journey. He would be accompanied by a mammal who was just trying to make the world a better place. Her story starts in the Commonwealth, on a cold October night, with innocent people placed under her protection.

.

.

.

.

.

On quiet nights like these, you could hear a whole lot out in the Commonwealth if you had a good pair of ears. From the sound of bloodbugs buzzing to the northwest, to the sound of gunfire off to the east. Judy Hopps heard all of this, as she sat just outside the campsite her small group had set up for the night. She was on guard duty at the moment, making sure no one snuck up on them as they tried to rest. For other mammals this would involve having to patrol around the campsite, but not for Judy. She was a rabbit, and was able to sit and rest, allowing her powerful ears to do the patrolling for her. If anything large enough to be a threat came within a hundred meters of them, she would know.

She had been with this small group of settlers for around a month now, and watched as the groups numbers became smaller and smaller. The town of Quincy had been attacked by mercenaries, and the squad she was with was the only group of Minutemen to come to the towns aid.

The Minutemen was the Commonwealth's local militia. Citizen soldiers that wanted to help keep innocent mammals safe. They were once a powerful group, able to take on anything that came their way, from raiders camps, to infested pre-war ruins, to hoards of super mutants attacking settlements. Now however Judy was part of the last group of mammals to call themselves Minutemen. The rest of them had either quit, or died trying to defend quincy.

Judy had always wanted to be a part of the Minutemen ever since she was little. Being born and raised in Diamond City, the largest settlement in the Commonwealth, other people thought the was a bit crazy for having this goal. Why would she want to leave the safest place in the Commonwealth? She was a rabbit, much smaller than the vast amount of mammals that lived in the city, and even smaller still to the creatures that infested much of the outside world.

Her parents, who managed the farm inside Diamond City, were always trying to get her to try to be something else. Their first choice would've been for her to stay and help them with their farm, and eventually find a nice, charming rabbit to have a few kids with. They were just trying to keep their daughter safe, as Diamond City was undoubtably much more safe than anywhere outside.

This however was not the life Judy wanted. She heard about the news of raiders and mutants terrorizing the people who didn't have the good fortune of living within Diamond City's walls. She wanted to be able to put a stop to any of these monsters before they could hurt anyone. The Minutemen were the ones who were going out there and doing just that. She had known since she was nine that joining them was what she wanted to do with her life.

She became a bit of a laughing stock in the city for this. Most mammals thought she was either crazy, suicidal, or both. There had never even been a bunny on the city guard, so how would there be one in the Minutemen? She always told them her size didn't matter, what mattered was her heart. This usually just resulted in more laughter.

When she turned 18, she signed up to become a Minuteman. She was laughed at by the armadillo working at the local recruitment booth. A few more months of insisting by her would result in them sending her to their training camp. When she arrived there, she was laughed at again, but was insistent the she be trained for duty.

During her time at the camp, she proved herself as one of their best recruits, even having the head trainer say she was destined to become a general one day. When she got out of that camp it was the happiest she had ever been. She had become a Minuteman, despite everyone else telling her it was impossible. She got out there and started making a difference.

And then things started going downhill.

Two years after she joined, the Minuteman's general, a hardened tiger by the name of Joe Becker, had died peacefully in his sleep. It should've been a time a mourning and remembrance for the Minutemen. Instead, it slowly caved in on itself. Bad blood formed between different groups, and settlements became less concerned with helping the cause and more about how well they were doing for themselves. No one could decide on a new general, as each group just wanted someone from their group or settlement to lead. Without a strong leader to keep them all unified, the Minutemen slowly deteriorated.

She was with a group lead by one Colonel Hollis when Quincy had been attacked. When they arrived they were able to force the mercs to retreat, allowing them to start to barricade the town.

This would prove futile, as the mercenaries continually attacked the town. Eventually, Hollis himself was killed, and the five remaining Minutemen retreated with around fifteen surviving settlers in tow.

The Minuteman who had the highest rank when they retreated, a cape buffalo named Bogo(whether that was his first or last name nobody knew) had been promoted by the rest of the mammals in the squad, seeing as they were the last true Minutemen, and he was the most qualified. He immediately made it a priority that they find the settlers another home and protect them. They went northwest, and settled briefly in the ruins of Jamaica Plain. They had managed to stay there for around two weeks before more mercenaries found them, wanting to wipe the rest of the Minuteman off the map. After fleeing, they only had ten settlers in total. They made their way to several more potential locations to settle, each one providing a deadly reason to leave. From lethal amounts of radiation, to raiders, to giant mutated crabs called Mirelurks, no place they found was safe for long.

By the time they made it to Lexington, they only had seven settlers left. They were hoping that this would finally be the spot they could call home. Instead they found two things. Raiders occupying the old Corvega assembly plant nearby, and ghouls.

Ghouls, like super mutants, were once normal mammals. But when one receives a very specific and very extreme amount of radiation, they can be made practically immortal. This comes with some very serious trade offs of course.

For one, you were now one of the ugliest things to walk across this earth, having all your fur fall off, revealing burned skin and could have some flesh rot away. Next, you were now considered a freak by many people who lived in the wasteland. Diamond City itself has a no ghoul policy, not allowing anyone with the condition inside. Last and possibly worst of all, your brain would have a tendency to rot away. When this happens, these ghouls become feral, losing all sense of logic and reason. Most walk around on all fours, and attack any living thing they see, with the exception of other ghouls. These mammals are cursed to live out the rest of their lives crawling around pre-war ruins, slowly rotting away.

When the group made it to Lexington, feral ghouls ambushed them as they searched for a place to stay. After the group retreated to the north and set up camp where they currently are, they only had four settlers left.

Judy turned her head to look back at the mammals she had been living with for the past month, who were currently gathered around a fire. There was Sturges,(again, not known if that was his first or last name) a dingo who was the local handyman back in Quincy. He was also the one who sent out the distress call to the Minutemen. There was the Longs, Marcy and Jun, a pair of antelopes who were married. They had lost there son Kyle back in Quincy and were each… mourning for him in different ways. There was Mama Murphy, an old yack who was, as Mama Murphy said, 'blessed with The Sight.' At first, Judy thought that she was just a crazy old woman with a serious chem addiction. When she found out that the reason Sturges sent out the distress call was because Mama Murphy saw mercenaries attack Quincy in a vision she had while high on jet, she had to think twice about the yack.

Then there was the remaining Minutemen who stayed with the group since Quincy. Ben Clawhauser, a slightly larger than average cheetah, sat close to the fire, trying cook the radroaches he was going to eat as quickly as possible. There was McHorn, a rhino who was eyeing the nearest road, watching for anything that might come near. And there was Wolford, a wolf who seemed to be fiddling with a ham radio, trying to get into contact with any remaining Minutemen who might be out there. The only person who was missing from the group was…

"Lost in thought Ms. Hopps?" she heard a voice say.

She turned to her right to see General Bogo standing over her in his blue Minutemen uniform, his arms crossed in front of him.

She jumped slightly upon seeing him. She didn't expect someone so large to be able to get so close so quietly.

"Sorry sir!" she said as she stood up and gave him a salute.

The General rolled his eyes at her. "You know you don't have to salute me every time you see me just because I'm the general." he said

"Right. Sorry." she said meekly as she sat back down.

"I'd just like to know, how did a cape buffalo managed to sneak up on you with those ears of yours?" he said, pointing at her.

"Oh I'm sorry sir! I was just thinking about..." she quickly stammered before being cut off.

"Relax Hopps, I was just kidding. Everyone needs to let their guard down every now and then. Just make sure the next time you do it you aren't actually on guard duty."

"Alright..." she said before her ears perked up due to a sound in the distance.

"Hear anything?" He asked as he knelt down to try to get closer to her height while looking out at the hills beyond their campsite.

"Nothing that can be considered a real threat." she replied.

"Good." he said. "Maybe now we can find a good spot to settle without anything trying to kill us."

She nodded in response, agreeing that they were long overdue for a bit of peace. As she once again lost focus in the sounds beyond them, she began to wonder why he even came up to her in the first place.

"Anything you need sir?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Just checking up." he said as he stood up. "And..." he said turning to face her, as she did the same to him.

"I just wanted to let you know that..." he said before his eyes caught something in the campsite. "WOLFORD!" he screamed, running back to the campsite. Judy followed behind him, wanting to help if anything had gone wrong.

When she got to the campfire, she saw Wolford flinch back at the sight of Bogo charging him. Clawhauser sat chewing on his dinner, while McHorn shook his head at the wolf.

"What in God's name do you think your doing Wolford?" Bogo asked.

Judy looked over to see Mama Murphy staring up at the sky, a big smile on her face, and a jet pipe in her hand.

"Look I just wanted to know if she could show us where to go next! You know she's not lying when she sees those things."

The General glared at him. "That does not excuse the fact that you are slowly killing her every time you give her one of those damn chems!" he yelled.

"We're lost right now General! We have to find some place to stay otherwise we aren't going to make it! You know damn well that we can't go back to Diamond City."

After another failed attempt at finding a new spot to live, the group decided on just heading to Diamond City to stay there for a while. They were surprised to find that the guard wouldn't even let them in.

" _We trusted you idiots to keep us safe. We ain't makin' that mistake again."_

"Oh and if we do find the perfect spot to stay, and she dies along the way, that's okay? Bogo yelled.

"You know we have to..."

"Sanctuary." Mama Murphy said.

Everyone turned to her.

"What is it Mama?" Sturges said.

"I saw... a place, just past Concord. Empty... but the perfect kind of place... for living. An old suburb." she said slowly as she came down from her high.

"See?" Wolford said. "I told you she isn't lying."

Bogo only glared at him in response.

"Fine. We'll head for Concord tomorrow." he said. "But if I catch any of you giving Mama Murphy any chems again," he said pointing at his four soldiers, "we are going to have a very serious discussion about your place as a Minuteman."

They all gave a light 'yes sir' in response.

"Good. Now everyone get some sleep. If what Mama Murphy said was true we have quite the journey ahead of us tomorrow." He turned to Judy.

"That means you Hopps. Get some shut eye." he said as he sat next to the fire.

"Yes sir." she said looking down at the ground, starting to feel a bit tired. She began walking towards her sleeping bag.

_'Wasn't Bogo going to tell me something?'_ she thought before she turned around to face him

"What were you going to say sir?"

He gave her a quick glance before staring back into the fire.

"Don't worry about it Hopps. I'll tell you when we get to Sanctuary." was all he said.

"Oh… um… alright." she said before heading to her sleeping bag.

Judy hoped that this next stop would be the last. She wanted to finally get these folks a home and get back out there and help people.

She quickly became sad at the thought that there wasn't much more she could do to help. The Minutemen were now shunned, and she began to think about what she was going to do once all this was said and done. Head back to Diamond City? Travel the wasteland? She still wasn't sure as she laid down on her sleeping bag and drifted slowly to sleep.

A few things however were going to be true about Sanctuary.

1\. It was going to be the groups final stop.

2\. It was going to be quite the journey getting there.


	5. A Few New Friends

 

 

 

_**Zootopia is property of Disney** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda** _

* * *

After around five minutes Nick was finally able to get a grip on things, and stood up. He was still deathly sad about the series of events that now plagued his life, but sitting around crying about it was not going to fix anything.

The world he once knew, couldn't be fixed. It had already been destroyed by radiation. His parents, as much as it pained him, were gone. There was no way they would still be alive now. His friends, forced to suffer the same fate as his parents. His son however, was still out there somewhere.

Looking out over the crumbling houses, Nicks mind continued to ponder his sons whereabouts.

_'Where could he have been taken? Is there anywhere out here that's even habitable?'_

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of crows as they cawed overhead, and landed on a nearby tree.

_'I guess that answers that question.'_ he thought. _'If these birds can live out here, other mammals could still be alive somewhere. And if there are other mammals out there…'_

Then his son could still be alive.

Determination flooded through his veins. His son was somewhere in this wasteland, and Nick wasn't just going to let those mammals keep him. He was going to find Shaun if it was the last thing he did.

He first searched the area around the elevator for any supplies. If the giant roaches that seemed to practically charge at him were any indication, there was going to be some pretty nasty things roaming the wilds. He found some useful items in a few crates sitting next to a rusted out van. A couple more stimpaks, a bit of duct tape, and a pack of radaway.

While stimpaks were considered miracles by some back in the day, radaway was almost seen as a gift from God himself. Before its creation anyone exposed to radiation, be it from a reactor in a power plant or some other source, would have suffered very serious side effects and illnesses with almost no ways to treat them. Afterwords, you could be on the verge of death from radiation poisoning and could be walking around in hours, none the worse for wear thanks to the incredible medicine.

He ducked inside a trailer that sat near the fence that marked the border of the vault's property, and scanned the inside for anything useful.

_'Let's see, a desk fan, don't see how I could use that. A couple of folders, no. Ashtray, no. Oh! Hello there.'_ he thought to himself as he eyed a can of Cram sitting on a desk. He quickly inspected it to make sure the packaging hadn't been broken. Luckily it hadn't, so that should mean that the food would be safe to eat, thanks to the food preservation techniques they had at the time. Cram certainly wasn't his favorite food back in the day, but now wasn't the time to be picky.

Exiting the trailer, Nick began to walk towards the neighborhood. He crossed the short bridge that went over the small stream, which now had some red leafy plant growing along parts of its edges.

Making his way into the neighborhood, a single word summarized his thoughts about the place.

_'Dead.'_

He shook his head. Thoughts like those were not going to get him anywhere, and he needed to concentrate. He quickly made for his old house, which was located near the center of Sanctuary Hills. He entered the abandoned building he once called his home. He still did call it that technically, but things were a bit different than the way he left them.

For one, the roof had caved in at certain points, leaving holes in his ceiling. Next was his wall. The ones separating different rooms had for the most part stayed structurally sound, but several of the ones that separated the inside from the outside had deteriorated over the years, and now bore several new 'windows.' Finally his furniture. He was surprised to find that most of it was still there, although much of it was run down. His couch seemed fine, and TV looked no worse than normal, but several of chairs at his dinner table had fallen apart.

He didn't have much time to ponder the conditions of his home. He had a job to do, and needed supplies to do it. Moving on to his bedroom, he went to open his safe that laid under his now collapsed bed frame.

He quickly entered the combination and opened it to find…

_'Dammit.'_ he cursed to himself

It seemed that someone had cracked his safe and made off with the contents long ago. A pistol, some ammo, medical supplies, and a bit of cash were all no longer inside. It wasn't the worst thing that could've happened. Nick already had a pistol, some ammo, and stimpaks. The thing he really needed to find was money. If he found any civilization, how would he pay for anything?

_'I know for a fact that some of neighbors had safes.'_ he thought. When he first moved out to Sanctuary Hills, an old 'business partner' got into contact with him, asking for him to scout out the neighborhood for anything valuable. Nick refused, saying that he wasn't in that line of work anymore. He did scout out several houses the next day however, just in case any more old contacts had some grudges against him. If they wanted money, he would show them where to find some.

The house directly west of his was the first house he searched. Sure enough, he found a small safe sitting in the bedroom closet. The safe didn't have a combination, and had to be opened by key. It would have to be picked. Nick looked in the bathroom and found a few bobby pins in the medicine cabinet. He went back to the safe and attempted to pick the lock.

Again, Nick was no thief. He had never stolen anything in his life. Anything he took, other mammals willingly gave him. He did however learn from a friend how to pick a lock. He never intend to use it the same way his friend did, but it was still a useful skill to have, as he had a nasty habit of locking himself out of his apartment.

As he tried to pick the lock, he heard a sound outside the house.

It was the sound of some kind of thruster going off. He looked outside to see an old Mr. Handy robot moving up the center of the street, humming a tune to itself, and heading east towards the cul-de-sac.

The Mr. Handy was one of the few domestic robots that existed before the bombs fell, as most were made for military purposes. It could be used for anything from yard work, to chores, to taking care of the kids. They hovered a few feet off the ground thanks to a thruster located at the base of the robot. Attached to that, was three small arms, which had hands that could be interchanged with several other types of utilities. The head was composed of a round sphere, with three 'eye stalks' protruding out of the front, right, and left sides of the robot.

The robot outside still had a nice metallic reflection to it, despite its age. It had a normal claw hand, a buzz saw, and what looked to be a flamer attached to his arms. If it wanted to, it could do some very serious damage.

Before Nick could get out of sight of the mechanical butler, one of its eyes spotted him through the window, and it turned to face him. Nick's hand moved for his pistol, turning the safety off. Before he could draw it however, the robot spoke.

"Hello there!" he said with a cheery, english accent. It was eyeing him up and down, seeming to take notice of his blue vault-suit.

"Oh my, did you come from that vault up there?" it questioned.

Nick stared at the robot suspiciously, his pistol still in his right hand, hidden form view.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Oh, thank goodness!" it said, moving closer to the window. "I was starting to wonder if I would ever get any answers about my masters!"

Nick raised an eyebrow at the robot. It had been 200 hundred years since those mammals would've entered the vault. Yet here this robot was, waiting for them to make their way back out. That was the thing about robots. They were deathly loyal to whoever they considered their master.

"You wouldn't have happened to know any wolves in there with the last name Fangstein would you?

Nick remembered meeting those two neighbors. They didn't think less of him when he first moved in, unlike some of the other neighbors. They seemed like good mammals. The thought of them needlessly dying in that bunker made Nick become more depressed.

"Look, I'm sorry buddy, but I'm afraid your friends aren't going to be down there." he said sadly.

"W-why not?" the robot replied.

Nick inhaled deeply.

"Because nobody in that vault is alive anymore."

The robot gasped, seemingly taken aback by the news.

"What!? No. No, no, no! Surely you must be joking!?" the robot said.

Nick only shook his head in response.

Suddenly, the robot started making noises like it was crying, even adding in little sniffles every now and again. A crying robot. Nick had certainly never seen that one before.

"Hey, hey you okay there pal?" he said as he climbed out the window after turning his pistol's safety on, and placing it in his pocket. He was much closer to the robot now, and could see it stand a good 3 feet over him.

"Oh I'm terribly sorry sir, It's just that ( _sniff)_ I had always wondered if they had made it in but ( _sniff)_ I suppose I never truly considered the fact that they may not have survived."

"Well if it helps, I knew them briefly before… all this. They seemed like good people."

"Thank you sir, ( _sniff_ ) that does… wait, you knew them when?"

"Before the bombs. That vault up there put us all in these cryogenic pods. I only just woke up. I lived in that house over there." Nick said, pointing at his house.

The Mr. Handy turned to see where he was pointing, and seemed to perk up a bit once saw Nick's house.

"Oh my! You must be Mr. Wilde then!" it said cheerily.

"You know me?" Nick asked, surprised at the robots sudden change in mood.

"Ah yes! I do remember the missus talking about a fox that moved in at some point. It's a pleasure to finally meet you!"

"Nick Wilde, the pleasures mine." he said, extending his right paw.

"Well Mr. Wilde, you may call me Codsworth. One of General Atomics finest!" it said, extending its claw hand.

"Nice to meet you." he said, shaking the robots claw hand.

"Oh it's so nice to have someone so polite visit the old neighborhood!" he said, returning the handshake. "It's been so long since I've had the pleasure of hosting anyone so civil around here!"

Nick paused, thinking back to the mammals that took his son. Maybe Codsworth had seen them at some point.

"Did you see anyone come down from the vault carrying a baby fox? He asked

"Why no, I don't recall seeing such a thing. Why do you ask?" Codsworth replied.

"Those guys took my son, Shaun, while I was still frozen, I need to find them."

"Oh my goodness! I'm terribly sorry to hear that." he began to look around at the crumbling buildings. "Perhaps they're in one of these houses! Might I help you search for the young one?"

Nick smiled. This robot knew nothing about him, but was still going to try to help him find Shaun. He hoped he would find more folks out there like Codsworth.

"There won't be anything dangerous right?"

"Oh no, not at all. Just a few pest. Flies, cockroaches, and whatnot."

"Lead the way then" he said, gesturing towards the worn down homes.

They began searching each house for any signs that someone may have taken Shaun there. In the first few houses they found nothing, only the occasional roach that the two of them easily dispatched. Later on they found the flies Codsworth had mentioned. They were almost larger than Nick's head, and squirted some strange goop at them when they approached. Luckily they proved no harder a challenge than the roaches. Soon however they had searched the last house, right at the end of the cul-de-sac, and found no evidence of Shaun.

"Your son's not here either. Oh I'm so sorry sir." Codsworth said.

"Don't be," Nick said as he shook his head. "You tried to help so… thanks"

"Well..." the robot stammered, trying to find a solution to Nick's problem. "Perhaps the folks down in Concord might be able to help you?"

"There's still mammals alive down in Concord?" Nick asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Oh yes, though do be careful. They seemed a bit weary of me the last time I wandered down there."

This was great news. These mammals just might be able to point Nick in the right direction.

"All right. I'll head down there and see if they know anything." Nick began to walk away, but quickly turned around to address his new robotic friend.

"Thanks for your help Codsworth." he said, smiling at the Mr. Handy.

"Good luck Mr. Wilde! You'll find your young one, I'm sure of it!"

As Nick walked back through the ruins of this once peaceful suburbia, he passed by his house once again.

_'Wouldn't hurt to say goodbye.'_ he thought.

He went through each room, reveling in the memories he and Shaun had made in their short time here. The living room, now dusty and run down, was the spot he played with Shaun when he got home from work. The kitchen, now void of any food, was where he would feed his son every night. The bathroom, which was surprisingly well preserved, was where he had given Shaun baths after messy meals. The laundry room, well there were no memories with Shaun in here, though it was a bit funny when he got scared of the washing machine.

Nick entered his bedroom once again, slightly hoping that he would find some additional clothes so he could get out of his jumpsuit. Although it was the apocalypse, there was no way he was going to go running around naked.

It seemed that all his clothes had been taken by someone else long before Nick had returned to his home. His favorite shirt and tie he had taken into the vault, and had given them to the staff after he changed into his vault-suit. He was actually upset about that. It was his best outfit.

As he looked through his old closet, he found something high up on the top shelf.

A red handkerchief. A bit dusty, but other than that had practically no damage.

It was from his brief time in the ranger scouts back in Boston. He had wanted to join them so that he could finally be a part of something. A part of a pack. The other kids were… not so thrilled about having a fox in their scout group. After a certain 'initiation' ended with him being muzzled and beaten up, he left the scouts. But for some reason, he had always made sure to keep that handkerchief. Maybe it reminded him to never let other get to him, maybe he secretly still wished he had made it in, he wasn't entirely sure.

He walked into Shaun's room, still carrying the red cloth in his left paw. He walked up to Shaun's crib, remembering what he needed to fight for in the coming days.

"I'm coming buddy." he muttered to himself, before putting the handkerchief in his left left pocket, and headed out to find the folks at Concord.

* * *

The thing about being a Minuteman was that at any given time, around thirty percent of mammals you encounter while out in the wastes would want to kill you for no reason other than the fact that you were just a nosey do-gooder.

And right now, that was no exception.

Judy, along with the Minutemen and the settlers they protected had came under attack almost as soon as they entered Concord. Raiders had set up an ambush, waiting for them on the main street. After the group had made it inside an old history museum and bunkered down on the third floor, Judy had made the very bright decision of heading out on the balcony that overlooked the main street, and attempted to climb down. Her plan was that she could flank the raiders from below, while the other Minutemen distracted them. She probably should've told the others about this plan, but she needed to act quickly, and make sure none of the raiders knew she was coming. Just as she reached the bottom, a bullet grazed her left leg, causing her to scream out in pain, as she quickly made for cover behind an old pickup truck.

_'Just how I wanted my day to go.'_ she thought sarcastically. Being under fire from chem crazed lunatics was not what most folks considered to be a good afternoon. She didn't either, but she was a Minuteman. It was part of the job description.

These raiders were part of the group that occupied the old Corvega plant back in Lexington. They wore the usual raider gear, scraps of clothing hastily stitched together, along with the occasional armor made from rusted metal. It seemed like these raiders thought the small group of Minutemen were carrying a large amount of valuables, and wanted to make off with their haul. It was partially true, they had guns, ammo, medical supplies, even a fair amount of caps, but with the amount of training these Minutemen had, the raiders should've backed off and gone for an easier target.

But then again, raiders were never known for being very bright.

Judy was still sitting behind the pickup truck, taking the occasional peek out of cover to fire her pistol when one of the raiders start to reload. Another perk of her tremendous hearing was that she knew exactly what the enemy was doing at all times. If any of them managed to get close to her she would know, and her short double barrel shotgun would have a few choice words for them.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HOPPS!? ARE YOU TRYING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED!?"

She looked up to see General Bogo on the balcony, as he began to fire his laser musket, the Minutemen's signature weapon.

"I was going to flank them sir! Didn't know more of them were still outside!" she yelled, before peeking up and firing her pipe pistol straight into the head of a charging wolf, dropping them instantly.

"Well you'd better hope that McHorn can hold off the ones on the inside! Wolford and Clawhauser have been hit, and the stimpaks are taking their sweet time getting them up and ready!

She mentally cursed at herself. Her friends were now in danger just because she made a stupid decision without consulting any of them. McHorn was a big guy, being a rhino and all, and could take quite a few more hits than the rest of them, but he wasn't bulletproof. If he couldn't keep the raiders at bay, then that left only Bogo and the settlers, of whom none had any real combat prowess.

She needed to get inside that museum.

A task that was now incredibly difficult thanks to the many raiders with a sightline on the door, as well as her injured leg, and the elephant in war paint that was charging her about 20 meters away.

"Sir, elephant!" she screamed.

"I see him, he's kind of hard to miss!" Bogo said, cranking his musket a few extra times, adding additional power to the already devastating shot.

Judy peeked out from behind the truck and began firing her pistol at the elephant, causing it to slow slightly. The large raider was probably amped out his mind on psycho right now, able to resist most of the pain that the bullets caused him. Judy considered moving cover, as her shots were having little effect on the raging mammal. Before she moved out, she heard the thunderous boom of a laser musket, and saw its shot hit the elephant square in the head, taking a large chunk out of it. The raider's momentum kept him moving forward, though he himself was now dead. It's body fell forward, sliding a few feet, before bumping up lightly against the truck Judy was positioned behind.

"Nice shot sir!" she said, looking up at the cape buffalo. He was aiming his musket again, but lowered his weapon briefly, a confused look appearing on his face, before raising it again. A loud ricochet on the truck to her caused her to flinch, and move back into cover.

"Watch your fire Hopps! We may have friendlies in the area!" Bogo said, firing once again.

She stayed behind cover, focussing on the sounds of the battlefield. She heard at least six pairs of feet take the occasional step forward, along with the sound of the raiders own weapons going off. She did hear another gun, a 10mm pistol by the sound of it, going of far behind the raiders. This must have been the potential friendly, as when it fired she heard one of the raiders cry out in pain, before hearing the thud of their body hitting the ground.

' _Looks like some folks decided to give us a hand.'_ She welcomed the idea that someone saw what was happening and decided to do something about it. She would have to buy these guys a drink if she ever got the chance, though Judy herself didn't drink much.

Suddenly the sounds of bullets hitting the ground around her snapped her attention back on what was around her. Two raiders, an antelope and a lioness had flanked around the building on the left side of the main street, and were now advancing slowly up the road.

"To the west!" she shouted, firing her pistol at the lioness. The raider dropped after a few shots, and the antelope quickly followed thanks to Bogo quick shot.

Before she could reload her pistol, she heard the sound of three pairs of loud feet approaching her. She quickly pulled out her shotgun from behind her waist, and peeked above cover. She quickly fired a shot into the chest of a boar, causing it to fly backwards. The other shot, she used on another wolf, also sending them backwards.

As she attempted to reload her shotgun, she saw a panther come around to her side of the truck, charging her. The panther knocked her to the ground before pulling a pipe revolver out of its holster, pointing it straight at Judy's head.

They say your life flashes before your eyes before you're about to die. For Judy, she saw herself growing up in Diamond City, being teased by the other kids for having a dream. She saw herself prove everyone else wrong as she joined the Minutemen. This, and more she saw all in the few milliseconds that the feline had the gun pointed at her.

She jammed her eyes shut, bracing herself for any pain.

_Bang._

She heard the very particular sound of a 10mm pistol.

Followed by the sound of a loud thud in front of her.

She opened her eyes to see the panther lying on the ground, bleeding from the back of it's head. Behind them, she saw a red fox in a blue jumpsuit, with some kind of pack strapped to his back. He held one 10mm pistol with both his hands, and wore a slightly terrified look on his muzzle. Both Judy and the fox were breathing heavily.

"Are you okay?" the fox spoke through heavy breaths, offering his paw.

"Yeah, I think so." she said, still a bit shaken from the near death experience.

Judy grabbed his paw and was helped to her feet. She was anxious to quickly thank him, and his friends for saving her life.

"I can't thank you enough for your help." she said, smiling at the fox. "If you guys hadn't shown up I would've been..." she looked back up the main road to find nobody else there. Her ears perked up trying to find any more sounds, but she heard nothing.

This fox was working alone.

"Is anyone else with you?" she asked, wanting to make sure her eyes and ears weren't betraying her.

The fox looked back up the main road, then back at her.

"Nope, just me. I heard that there was a group of mammals in Concord, so I thought I'd come see if you guys could help me with a little problem. I just walked into town and yelled at one of those assholes back there for some help, but they started shooting at me. Once I saw the rest of you guys going at it, I thought maybe we could help each other out."

"Well thats very generous of you. You don't often see folks doing thing like that these days." She was right too. If most mammals came across a group of raiders attacking someone else, they would run as far away from there as possible. Not that anyone could blame them, most mammals are just looking out for their own survival. Still, it was nice to meet someone who was interested in the lives of others.

" _Ahem."_ Both Judy and the fox looked up at Bogo, still standing on the balcony, a slightly annoyed expression across his face.

"I would thank you as well fox, were it not for the fact that we still have a group of settlers trapped in here. We need help, and I doubt that those raiders were the last of them. If you help us get out of here, we can help you with any problem you have." Shots rang out inside the building, and Bogo turned to head back in.

"Get back in here Hopps, and you," he said pointing at the fox. "please consider my offer." Bogo said before he shut the door behind him.

"Well if you guys can help me out, I suppose I can keep helping you. Lets get to it." the fox said, looking down at Judy, before noticing the blood on the outside of Judy's leg. "You're hurt." he said.

Judy looked down at the wound she sustained on her left leg. She hadn't really noticed it during the fight, but now that her adrenaline had gone down, she could start to feel the pain.

"It's fine, don't worry." she said.

"Are you sure? I have a few spare stimpaks."

"Really, it's nothing. Not nearly bad enough to warrant a stimpak."

"Alright." he sighed. "But lets at least cover that up." He then pulled a red handkerchief out of his left pocket, staring at it for a brief second before carefully tying over the wound, and wrapping it in some duct tape, just for good measure.

"Thanks." she said "We've got to get in there."

"Lead the way." he said, gesturing towards the museum.

Judy turned around to head inside, but turned back to address the fox.

"By the way, I'm Judy. Judy Hopps." she said extending her paw.

"Nick Wilde, at your service." he said as they shook paws. "Let's get your friends out of there."

She smiled as they both turned towards the museum.

_'This guy Nick seems to be one of the good ones out here.'_ she thought.

One of the good ones was exactly what her little group needed.


	6. When Freedom Calls

_**Zootopia is property of Disney** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda** _

* * *

To say that Nick was feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment would be one hell of an understatement. First the world gets pulverized by nukes, and he and his son are forced to retreat underground. Next, turns out that the vault they were supposed to live the rest of their lives in was actually just going to freeze them for who knows how long, probably to run some weird experiments on them. Then, his son gets taken by some crazy weasel while he is still trapped in a cryogenic pod.

This alone was a lot for him to take in.

But unfortunately that was not all there was to it.

When he escapes the pod, he discovered that he was the only mammal left alive in Vault 111. Then he gets out of the vault to find that it had been 200 years since he entered. Oh, and there were now giant bugs that seemed to have a very strong liking for fox flesh. Well at least there were still people alive in Concord, maybe they could help him find Shaun? Nope. Turns out the locals rather fancied a game of 'shoot the fox' when Nick showed up, and they decided that he was the perfect candidate for their afternoon activities.

And to top it all off, those same lovely psychopaths that enjoyed shooting at him were _also_ shooting at a group of mammals dressed in revolutionary era clothing.

So yeah. One hell of an understatement.

Both Nick and the mammals that had held up in the Museum of Freedom managed to fight off the maniacs, with only one close call involving a crazy panther, and a bunny on the front lines.

That was the thing he was most surprised about. Rabbits back in the day were known for a few things. Their carrots, their truly insane habit of having several hundred kids, and their overwhelming desire to not find themselves in any dangerous situations _ever_ in their entire lives. This one though, seemed to almost _want_ to be in those situations, judging by the way she acted when in combat.

He'd found out her name was Judy. The grey furred rabbit had very gladly thanked him after he had helped them fend off the last of the lunatics. He had to suppress a smile when she did this. Her nose was twitching as she talked, and then when she looked back behind him, seemingly surprised it was just him, her ears perked up and her nose began to twitch even more. It was one of the most adorable things he had ever seen. Bunnies were always considered one of the cutest species back in the day, and it seemed that the nuclear holocaust didn't do anything to lower their rank on the 'cuteness list.' Nick couldn't help but internally chuckle when he looked at her outfit. The blue coat or jacket or whatever it was that she wore made her look like she was about to go to an old war reenactment. Nick thought she had taken the attire straight out of a museum.

She might have actually, considering they had just finished fighting through one.

The group of mammals she was with had been trapped on the third floor of the museum by raiders. That was what the large cape buffalo on the balcony called them when he had asked Nick to help them get escape the area. That wasn't a very good sign about the state of the world. If some mammals made their living by attacking others, killing them and taking everything they had, then it wasn't likely that there were many safe places out there.

They moved up to the third floor, having already cleared out the remaining raiders. As they approached the curators office, the door opened. The cape buffalo stepped out, wearing an outfit similar to Judy's, and holding some kind of strange rifle in his hands.

"Hopps, please consult with your squad beforehand the next time you decide to go on a suicide mission." the buffalo said in a stern voice.

"Sorry sir." she replied meekly.

"And you," he said, now looking at Nick, as he and Judy slowly walked inside the room. "I'm glad to see you've accepted my offer. It's not often we find someone willing to take on a bunch of drugged out raiders. General Bogo, Commonwealth Minutemen." He said extending his hand to the small fox.

_'Minutemen? Great, now I'm traveling backwards in time."_ Nick thought

"Nick Wilde. I'm sorry, who did you guys say you were again?" he said as he shook the buffalo's large hand.

"Minutemen. It's our job to protect the people of the Commonwealth at a minutes notice.

"Okay, back up again. The Commonwealth? What's that supposed to be?"

"Hmm, you must not be from around here." Bogo said. "Your in the Commonwealth right now Mr. Wilde. Again, it's our job to protect the good people that live out here. At least that was the idea. Now it seems that were the last group to call ourselves Minutemen." he said looking at the rest of the group barricaded in the office.

Nick eyed the mammals in the small room. Looking out the small window overlooking the rest of the museum was a large rhino, seemingly uninterested in Nick's arrival. Sitting nearby him was a wolf and a cheetah, each of them appearing to be recovering from gunshot wounds. Two antelopes were towards the back of the room. The female one was pacing back and forth with an angry expression on her face. The male was sitting against a desk, rocking back and forth with his head in his hands. Sitting on a couch was an old yack, dressed in what looked like some kind of fortune teller outfit. Finally, there was a dingo to Bogo's right, trying to get access to a locked terminal.

"So we cleared out the rest of those assholes, now we just waltz on out of here?" the wolf on the ground said, gesturing to the door.

"Not yet." Judy said, her ears perked up high. She rushed over to the door leading to the balcony and opened it, listening intently. "We've got more incoming. They're shooting into the air. Trying to scare us.

_'It might be working.'_ Nick thought.

"How much time would you say we have?" Bogo asked.

"Hard to tell. I think they're a bit of a ways outside the town. Depending on if they set up defenses of their own or just rush us, I'd say we have somewhere around ten to twenty minutes before they make it inside the building. Judy replied, shutting the door.

"Well that means we move onto plan B." Bogo said.

"What was plan A?" Nick asked.

"Plan A was if those raiders inside were the last of them. We just walk out the front door and continue on our way. Judging by those gunshots outside, I'd say that plan is now scrapped."

"So how the hell do we get out of here!?" the female antelope yelled.

"I was just about to explain that Marcy, calm down." Bogo said. The antelope was still fuming, but backed down.

"Plan B involves something a bit more crazy. There's a crashed vertibird up on the roof, with a minigun still mounted to it. What's better, is that next to the aircraft is a set of power armor that just so happens to be the right size for McHorn here." the buffalo said, nodding his head at the rhino.

Power armor was the peak of military protection back before the bombs fell. They gave the wearer so much protection and additional strength that they were basically a living tank, able to withstand bullets, radiation, and even small explosions. The military only made them for the largest of mammals though, with the smallest versions being for bears. After all you didn't want to go to all the trouble of arming a fox to the teeth, just to have him be crushed by an enemy rhino or elephant.

"So whats the hold up?" Nick asked.

"The hold up is that I can't crack this damn code." the dingo to Bogo's right said. "Why the hell does a museum have this much security for their damn basement?"

"It's fine Sturges, you're doing the best you can." Bogo said before turning back to Nick. "There's an old fusion core still powering the building in the basement, and we need that in order to power up the suit."

"Well, how about I go down there and take a look at the basement? See if I can find a way to get in from down there." Nick asked.

"Alright. We have a plan. Hopps, make sure nothing gets our new friend here down there." She gave the buffalo a quick nod, and the two headed back downstairs.

As they went down the stairs, Nick studied the bunny that walked in front of him, trying to get a read on her. Back when he hustled, it was very important that he understood what kind of mammal he was talking to before he tried to pull a con. He of course no longer did that kind of work, but he still tried to get a read on everyone out of habit. Judging by the ways her ears were perked up, turning towards any sounds the old building made, he concluded that while this bunny was certainly more attracted to danger than the rest of her species, she was still very cautious about everything. Those ears probably saved her a hundred times out in that wasteland.

When her violet eyes scanned each room as they walked through, his conclusion about her cautiousness was confirmed. Even though she had those powerful ears, she still checked every corner, just to be sure.

"You know, it's not polite to stare." she said turning briefly back to him as they walked.

"Oh come on, I know you bunnies don't have _that_ good of hearing." Nick said.

"We have eyes too you know. I can tell when someone is watching me."

"Just trying to get a read on you Carrots, don't flatter yourself."

"Carrots? Really?" she said with a chuckle, stopping where they walked. "I told you my name you know."

"Oh, I remember. I just like giving out nicknames. Carrots isn't too offensive or anything is it?"

"Very." she said dryly.

"Perfect. Carrots it is then." She rolled her eyes at him, but still gave off a small smile, and continued walking.

"Right. So, why are you trying to 'get a read' on me?" she asked, making air quotes with her fingers.

"Just a habit. And I was a little bit curious. Just wanted to know why a cute little bunny was fighting a bunch of maniacs covered in rusted metal. I think I got it figured out though." Nick said.

"First of all, never call a rabbit cute, it's offensive. And second, why do you say that?"

"You want to help people out. The way go headstrong into a fight, even apparently going on what Chief up there called 'suicide missions' to help out the mammals you know."

"Pfft, Chief? You mean General Bogo?" she chuckled.

"I told you, I like nicknames." he said giving of a smirk. "Anyway, moving on. You're also cautious of everything. Your ears turn towards every sound, and your eyes inspect everything when you walk into a room. Knowing how much bunnies hate finding themselves in dangerous situations, you probably have your parents scared to death knowing that you go out and fight raiders for a living."

She looked back at him, rolling her eyes once again. "Okay, okay. Not a bad observation there. I did sign up with the Minutemen to help out the little guys. And maybe I'm a bit cautious in new places."

"And?" he asked, leaning forward.

"Ugh, and yes my parents are _very_ worried about my general safety, happy?"

"Very." he said, mimicking her dry tone from earlier.

"Ha ha, so funny. Now let _me_ try to get a read on _you_." She stopped and turned to face him, crossing her arms.

Nick just stood there, hands in his pockets, and a sly smile on his face as the small bunny eyed him up and down, trying to figure out all she could about him.

"You're from a vault." she stated.

"Bravo Carrots, a very astute observation. You should've become a detective."

"Not finished. You're from a vault. A vault that as far as anyone knows, nobody has ever came out of. Vault 111, I assume thanks to the big number on your back. Any attempts to get inside have failed. So I see two possibilities here. One, you were sent out to get help for your little isolationist paradise with whatever problem you guys had. Or two, you did something wrong in there, and were exiled as a result, forced to live the rest of your life above ground with us lowly surface dwellers. So which one is it Slick?"

Now it was Nick's turn to laugh. "Slick? That's the best you can come up with?" he asked.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, it's just that… you could be so much more offensive with your nickname. Why not Shifty, or Sly. You know, something more fun."

"I don't have to explain my nicknames to you. Now go on. Answer the question." she said.

"I'm afraid you're wrong on both accounts Carrots. I didn't get kicked out, and I'm not trying to fix any problem down there. In fact, I don't plan on ever going back to that place."

"Wha- really?" she said tilting her head. "Well… why did you leave then?"

His joking expression was now replaced by one of sorrow, though he tried his best to hide it.

"Well, they had us frozen in these pods. When I got out, the place was long abandoned."

"Frozen? Why would they freeze you?" she asked.

"No idea. I had just gotten into the vault and they said the pods were for decontamination." he shook his head. "I should've know they were up to some shady stuff. The way they just came up to my door and sold me a spot in there." he said more to himself than to Judy.

"Wait, who sold you a spot in the vault?"

"Vault-Tec. Just came right up to me and..."

"Wait, wait. Vault-Tec sold you a spot? Wha… when did you first go down there?"

"A little over 200 years ago."

Judy's draw dropped, and Nick's mood improved a little upon seeing her shocked expression.

"So what you're saying is, you were alive before the bombs fell?"

"Yep. Scouts honor." he said, raising his right hand.

"Wow, th-thats insane. Were there any other mammals that made it out?"

Nick sighed as they reached the basement, his mood once again lowering. He was actually enjoying talking to her, but now he had to have a grim reminder of his situation.

"That's kind of the problem I was hoping you guys could help me with. You see, I took my son, Shaun, with me into the vault. He's less than a year old." He had to fight back showing any emotion, and continued. "When I was still stuck in the pod, he was taken."

"Oh my God. Nick, I-I'm so sorry to hear that." Judy said, her ears drooping down behind her head. "Do you have any idea who took him? Or where?"

"No. I was hoping that some folks in Concord might have seen them, but the locals seemed a bit unfriendly."

Nick began inspecting the door to the generator room, as the rabbit seemed deep in thought.

"Well don't you worry. When we get out of here and get where we're going, we'll make sure you find your son."

He stopped inspecting the door and turned to look at Judy. On the outside, he just gave a soft smile, grateful that he would be getting help. But on the inside, he was ecstatic. He had found someone to help him find Shaun, and he wouldn't soon forget it.

"I appreciate that Judy, I really do." He turned his attention back to the door.

"You're welcome." she said softly. "Now, how are we gonna get the fusion core in there?"

"If you know how to hack this terminal, we can get in. I was never really good with computers."

"I have a little experience, so I'll give it a shot. My brother AJ was always the one who was good with computers in the family, and he showed me a few things. Can you give me a boost?"

"Sure thing." he said. Judy climbed onto Nick's shoulders, standing on them as her hands were able to just barely reach the terminal."

"You know, whoever put this terminal here could've put in a bit more consideration for bunnies." Judy proclaimed.

"I don't think they envisioned a group of mammals needing to get a fusion core inside, to power up a suit of power armor, to save themselves from psychopathic raiders back when they installed it." Nick said.

She just scoffed at him in response.

"Dammit." she cursed as she entered the wrong password.

"One down."

"I know, I know… Dammit." She missed another.

"Two left."

"Yeah, yeah, just hold on a sec...Dammit!" she yelled, missing yet another.

"Do you want me to try it?" Nick asked.

"You said you weren't good with computers."

"I've got to be better at it than you at this point." he said, smirking to himself.

"Calm down, I've almost… God dammit!" she screamed as the terminal shut down.

"And now we're locked out. Great job Carrots."

She jumped off his shoulders, and gave him a scowl as she landed.

"Sturges was right. Why the hell does a museum have this much security?"

"Who knows? Maybe they were afraid some mammals were gonna try and steal their replica outfits to use for some crazy future military group?" Nick said, looking at Judy's uniform.

"Dumb fox." Judy scoffed.

"Crazy bunny." Nick replied.

Judy blew are out her nose in response to his teasing.

"Alright, alright. What do we do now?" she asked.

"Well, while we may not be able to get in from the terminal, we may be able to get in another way." he said, pulling a bobby pin out of his pocket and showing it to Judy.

"You know how to pick a lock?"

"I do. I'm not the greatest at it by any means, but a friend of mine back in the day showed me the basics of it." he said as he inserted the pin into the lock.

"Yeah? How did this friend of yours know how to do it?"

"Let's just say that he was able to make a living thanks to his knowledge on the matter." he said as he focused on the lock.

"Hmm. What did _you_ do for a living back then?"

"I worked at an ice cream shop."

"Really? You expect me to believe a guy working at an ice cream shop just so happened to have a friend who really liked picking locks."

"Really." he said looking briefly at Judy. "I worked at a place right here in Concord before the bombs fell." He wasn't lying. He did work at an ice cream shop when the bombs fell. He didn't need to tell her about the kind of work he used to do.

"Whatever you say Slick. You done yet?"

"Almost..." he said. A few seconds later and door was unlocked. "Got it." he said.

"Finally. Let's get the fusion core and get back upstairs." She moved to the generator, pressing the eject button on the side, and the fusion core popped out. Most of the lights in the building went out as a result, but thanks to both an emergency generator and several large holes in the roof, there was still enough light in the building, not that the darkness would've been a problem for Nick.

He was so close to getting the help he needed. They just had to get out of Concord, and that shouldn't be too difficult. They were about to have a rhino in power armor with a damn minigun on their side. None of those monsters outside had a chance of taking them down.

Well, none of them except for one monster.


	7. One More Monster

 

 

_**Zootopia is property of Disney** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda ** _

 

* * *

 

Getting the rhino into that suit was priority number one for Nick, as doing so would get these mammals to help him find Shaun. He and Judy rushed up the stairs, the FC being held by the rabbit with both hands.

"General, we got the fusion core!" Judy yelled as they reached the third floor. Bogo was waiting for them outside the office door.

"Good work Hopps. Now we can get McHorn suited up." the buffalo said.

"Thank Nick instead sir. He was able to pick the lock to get in." Judy replied, handing the core to Bogo.

"Was he?" he said, raising a suspicious eyebrow at the fox. Nick had seen that look many times in his life. It was the 'What is that fox up to?' look. He had grown used to it, and now it had little effect on him, but he was still a bit upset that even now, after 200 years, people still didn't entirely trust him just because he was a fox.

"Good work." Bogo said, before he quickly walked into the office. At least he still seemed friendly towards Nick. It's not like you meet someone everyday who just so happens to knows the fine art of lock-picking, so he at least had a reason to be suspicious. "McHorn! It's time to get out of here." he said, as he tossed the fusion core to the rhino.

"Let's hope that armor holds together. Would hate to have it fall apart on me after all this trouble." McHorn said, before heading out the door at the back of the room, moving to the crashed vertibird.

Nick saw that the cheetah and wolf were both now on their feet, having apparently recovered from their injuries. Hopefully they would be able to lend a hand with the incoming raiders.

"Alright everyone," Bogo said looking over all the mammals in the room. "This is hopefully the last hurdle for us, so we need everyone to be ready. Clawhauser, Wolford, I want both of you out on that balcony giving cover fire to McHorn. Just keep your heads down and don't let him take too many hits, we don't know how much that armor can take."

"Yes sir." each of them said. They quickly grabbed their weapons, and opened the door to the balcony, getting into position.

"You two," he said pointing at Nick and Judy. "I want down on the street. Make sure no one is able to flank McHorn, or get inside the building."

Judy gave a quick salute, while Nick just gave a small nod. He didn't exactly need to take orders from the cape buffalo, as he would much rather stay inside than head back out. But he likely had a better mind for tactics than Nick did, so if he wanted to these people out of here, he needed to go back outside.

When they reached the street, they could see some raiders already gathering at the other end. The raiders began to fire, and while their aim was downright terrible from that distance, the duo still made for cover to avoid the shots. They quickly moved to the same pickup truck that Judy was behind earlier.

Nick peeked his head up to see how many were coming. There was at least a dozen on the road now, and more seemed to be coming in from the side streets.

_'Hope that minigun has enough ammo in it.'_ Nick thought.

He peeked back down when shots hit the truck he was behind, as well as the dead elephant that lay against it, and he readied his pistol. He only had three more clips that were filled, but had enough bullets in his pack to fill up at least 5 more. Now would not be the time to load up the magazines though. He heard shots behind him, as the cheetah, who he assumed was Clawhauser, and the wolf, who he assumed was Wolford, began firing. Their strange laser rifles were much better at longer distances than the raider's improvised pistols.

They managed to hit a few of the maniacs, but most of them ran for cover, peeking out to take quick shots at the Minutemen to force them back into hiding. The two on the balcony had to duck down to avoid their fire, as the frontmost raiders move up several feet.

_'Where the hell is that rhino?'_ Nick thought.

As if on queue, McHorn dropped down in power armor from the roof of the museum, landing on his feet with a loud thud. He made a small crater in the concrete where he landed, before he began to move towards the front lines, wielding the minigun.

If Nick could've seen the faces of those assholes when they saw that thing begin to spin up, he would've described them as 'the most terrified group of ugly muzzles he'd seen in his whole life.' McHorn was able to tear through at least six of the mammals before most of them began to retreat, some of them heading inside some of the old buildings.

Nick took a quick look at Judy, seeing that her ears were again perked up high. Her eyes widened as she turned to her right with pistol in hand, aiming at the end of a nearby building. Nick quickly did the same, and soon two jackals came around the corner, and were quickly gunned down by the two.

"Sharp bunny." Nick said. Judy gave him a quick smirk and turned her attention back to protecting McHorn. He had probably cleared around a dozen of the raiders now, and more seemed to keep on coming. It was absolutely mad how they just charged at him, coming out of cover and buildings to try and take the rhino down. Here was a mammal inside one of the greatest protective devices ever made, and these idiots were essentially trying to take him down with sticks and stones.

Nick noticed a group of raiders on the rooftop of the building to McHorn's left. An aardvark pulled out what looked like a grenade, and pulled the pin. Before they could throw it, Nick fired several shots into the arm of the explosive wielding mammal, causing the grenade to drop at its feet. The raiders on the roof all screamed in fear, before the grenade detonated, sending a couple of them flying off the building.

"Clever fox." Judy said to his right. Now it was his turn to give her a quick smirk. After around another minute of battle, the last of the raiders fell, and McHorn seemed none the worse for wear.

"Yes! We actually did it!" Judy yelled, as she threw a punch in the air.

"I can't believe that worked! Nice job down there Jude!" Clawhauser yelled from the balcony.

"Not too bad of a shot yourself there Ben!" she replied.

"All right." McHorn began to say. "This armor held up pretty well. Power levels are good too. Should last us all the way to..." he managed to say before a loud crash cut him off.

A large grate in that covered a hole in the street had been launched into the air, and crashed back down on the road. A brown, scaly hand ascended from the hole, it's fingers protruding claws almost a foot long. The creature rose out of the hole, climbed to its feet, and let out a loud roar into the air, showing off its incredibly sharp teeth, and horned head.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!? Nick screamed, as all the Minutemen began firing at the beast.

Judy muttered something, but Nick couldn't hear what she said. She fired her pistol as fast as she possibly could at the raging reptile.

_'_ _Are you kidding me right now!?_ _Of course_ _i_ _t's not like giant_ _bugs_ _were enough, now we have giant killer lizards!?_ _'_ he thought.

He began firing his pistol, now only having one loaded clip left. The creature seemed unfazed by the bullets, even the minigun. It charged McHorn, and he quickly turned around to retreat. Before he could get far enough away, the creature grabbed onto his leg. It then, much to Nick's surprise, picked up the rhino and threw him several meters behind it, roaring as he landed. It began moving towards him, its claws raised high in the air, ready to strike.

In a flash, Judy was out from behind the truck, and moving towards the lizard at incredible speed.

_'Is she actually trying to get herself killed?'_ Nick thought. She was confirming his earlier remarks about her willing to do anything for the mammals she knew. Seems that charging down giant killer reptiles was not exempt from this.

While the creature was focused on McHorn, who was slow to get up, Judy came up behind it, pulled out the shotgun from behind her waist, and fired two shots directly into it's right kneecap, causing the lizard to fall to the ground.

It roared in pain, and swiped its massive claws at Judy. She was fast enough to dodge the swings, moving backwards towards Nick. It's knee was completely destroyed, and couldn't stand on it's right leg. Although the creature was now crippled, it could still crawl at a surprisingly fast speed. Judy was now next to Nick, as he emptied the last of is bullets into the beast. He had no more loaded clips left.

McHorn was still struggling to get up, his left knee appearing to not be able to make any movement. Luckily, the creature's attention was now focussed on the two smaller mammals instead of him. It was still able to push entire cars aside as it crawled quickly towards the two, ignoring the laser shots coming from the balcony.

_'This thing is a freaking tank!_ _How the hell does radiation make a lizard the size of an..._ _'_

Nick quickly eyed the dead elephant that was lying against the truck they were positioned behind. Clipped to the belt of the large raider, was two frag grenades. He swiftly moved up and grabbed them off of the elephant.

"Carrots, catch!" Judy turned around, and Nick tossed her one of the grenades.

"Nice find! If we throw these right under its belly, it should be enough to take him down." Judy said. "On three, ready?" Nick nodded in response. "One… Two… Three!"

They simultaneously pulled the pins on their grenades, and tossed them straight under the beast, who's claws were now only a few meters away. They ran for cover, trying to avoid the incoming explosion.

They heard the boom of both of the grenades going off, as well as the scream of the creature, followed by a loud thud. When they peeked out, they saw the reptile lying still on the ground, blood oozing down its abdomen.

"Well that's… woo… that's… Nick spoke, before he fell to one knee, clutching his hand to his chest, struggling for breath.

"God, Nick! Are you okay?" she asked, moving up to check on him.

"I'm fine, just… not used to… all that… fighting." he voiced through deep breaths. Nothing in his life before this had been so physically demanding, and he was completely worn out.

"Hey it's fine, I get it. I was the same way back when I first joined up. You sure you're alright though?" she said, concern still in her voice.

"I'm fine. See? Already better." he said with a smirk as he rose back up.

"Okay, just let me know if you need anything." she said smiling, before turning her attention to McHorn. "Hey! You okay over there big guy?"

"I'm good! Somethings just jammed in the suit! Working on it!" the rhino yelled, tinkering with the machinery on his left knee.

She turned around to face the two mammals on the balcony. "Ben! Tell Bogo that we're ready to move out!"

"Can do Jude!" the cheetah yelled before both he and the wolf went back inside.

Nick and Judy turned to face the dead reptile lying on the ground.

"Good God that thing was…" Nick stammered.

"The scariest thing you've ever seen?" Judy asked.

He looked back at Judy."Yeah. What the hell is it?"

"A deathclaw. I think you can guess why we call them that."

Nick stared at the lizard once again. It did have quite big claws. And seemed to very interested in being the death of all of them. Deathclaw. Made sense to him.

"They're one of the deadliest things you can find out in the wasteland." Judy stated.

"One of the deadliest things? Is there anything worse?" he said tilting his head. The idea that worse things were out there terrified Nick.

Judy chuckled. "I'll tell you all about the nice little monsters in the world later Slick. Right now, lets just get everyone out of here."

* * *

Judy always tried her best to keep herself composed, emphasis on the word 'tried.' From when she was first accepted in the Minutemen, to when she did battle with mutants and raiders, she would always try to maintain a serious demeanor, only to succumb to either joy, fear, or anger, depending on the situation.

Right now she was actually doing a fairly good job of it. On the outside, she was cool, calm, relaxed, and ready to head to Sanctuary.

On the inside, it was a different story.

She had several issues that her mind was dealing with. For one thing, they had just managed to survive their first deadly encounter of the past month where they hadn't lost a single mammal. She was overjoyed at this. Surely it was a sign of good times to come for the small group.

For another thing, they had just managed to kill a _deathclaw_ of all things. One minute McHorn was tearing through the raiders no problem. The next she was wondering how they were going to get out of there alive. They got lucky though. If she hadn't landed those shotgun shots on its knee, and if Nick hadn't found those grenades, they wouldn't have stood a chance against the beast. She was still a bit shaken by the reptile, and was doing her best to hide it.

Lastly, her mind continued to wonder about Nick. He had come from a vault, where apparently they kept him frozen for around 200 years. He could've been lying to her, just for laughs. She probably would've thought that too, had he not talked about his son. Before mentioning him, he had this light, joking attitude. When he told her about what happened to him though, his voice was sad, and seemed stricken with grief, though he hid that fact rather well. She was still wrapping her head around his ordeal, trying to think about what she could do to help him.

She had to admire his dedication as a father though. His son had been taken from him, and he had absolutely no idea who took them, or where they went. Yet he still ventured out, into and unknown world, just looking for the smallest clue of where to find him. It truly did touch her heart.

She was also a bit curious about his life back before the war. He said he worked at an ice cream shop, but also had a friend who was a professional thief? Likely story. He seemed like he was hiding something from her, but wouldn't press him for answers now, as they were getting ready to leave.

The two of them walked back into the old museum. The rest of the mammals, including McHorn who had managed to unjam his suits right leg, were all gathered in the entrance. They were all carrying packs containing different resources. Clawhauser had the food, Wolford had additional armor, McHorn carried several packs thanks to his suits added strength. The settlers all carried smaller packs, mostly carrying personal belongings. They all seemed eager to get on their way, but Bogo wanted to thank Nick for the help first.

"Well Mr. Wilde I have to say, I didn't know what to think of you when you came wondering down that street, but you really came through. I don't think all of us would've made it out of here if not for your help." Bogo said.

"No problem. You guys looked like you needed a hand." Nick replied.

"That is true, however I do believe we had an agreement to help you with a problem you were having once this was over. I think you deserve a little more than that. So take this." he said, handing the fox a small sack. He opened it with a confused expression on his face.

"Uh… bottle caps?" Nick asked.

"Yep. There should be around a hundred in there. You've earned it." Bogo said, looking happy with himself.

_'This is probably really confusing for him.'_ Judy thought.

Caps were the main currency for most places in the wasteland. They were so plentiful when the bombs fell that folks out west began using them as a medium of exchange, and it quickly spread to the east. Not just any bottle cap would work though. It had to be from a Nuka Cola bottle. It was the most popular pre-war soft drink, having machines that to this day still contained some of the drinks, scattered all over the country. They had specialized machines make each cap, so that one could easily identify it on the bottle. This made it work great as currency now, as all the machines had been destroyed in the war, so making more of them was essentially impossible. This made it very stable, and prices for goods remained fairly similar across the entire wasteland.

"Nick isn't exactly from around here." Judy said. "He's… well, new to the Commonwealth.

"Well yes, I got that from the vault suit, but I assumed you were from Vault 81, no?" the buffalo asked.

Vault 81 was a rarity among the pre-war bunkers, in the fact that it still had the decedents of the original dwellers living within. They would sometimes trade with the rest of the Commonwealth, but they liked to keep to themselves.

"No, I'm from Vault 111." Nick said.

"Really?" Wolford said, "I didn't know that place was still in use."

"It's… not." Nick replied, looking down at the floor

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"What happened to it?" Clawhauser asked.

Nick took in a deep breath before speaking. "I don't really know to be honest. They had most of us frozen in these pods. When I got out, the whole place was abandoned."

"Wait frozen, like as in cryogenicly? How long were you in there?" Sturges asked.

"A little over 200 years. I only got out today." They all stared, dumbfounded at the fox. Even Marcy showed signs of emotions other than anger.

"So, you were alive before the war?" Clawhauser said.

"The war? I guess, if you mean when the bombs fell, then yes. I was." They all continued to just stare at him. Judy felt bad for Nick. He was sharing about how these awful things had happened to him, and they could only stare in response. She brought their attention to his problem.

"But he wasn't alone. He has a son who went in there with him. Just a baby. He was taken before he got out." she said.

"Is that true?" Bogo asked. Nick didn't speak, just nodded his head, still looking depressed. "I'm so sorry to hear that. Do you have any idea where they went?" Nick shook his head.

Bogo then put a determined expression on his face, and kneeled down and put a hand on Nick's shoulder.

"Mr. Wilde, you have helped save the lives of everyone here. I think it's only fair that you have the full support of the Minutemen with you to help find your son, whatever it takes." Nick looked up at the buffalo, his mood seemingly improving.

"Thank you Chief." Nick said.

Bogo gave a light chuckle. "Let's just keep it at Bogo shall we?"

"Whatever you say Chief."

Judy laughed as Bogo stood up to address the room. "All right everyone, thanks to our friend here, it's safe to move out. We're still sticking to the same plan, head to Sanctuary. It should be nearby. Mr. Wilde, we would be honored if you would join us there. If you wouldn't mind a bit of a walk."

"Sanctuary? As in Sanctuary Hills?" Nick asked.

_'How does he know about the place?'_ Judy wondered.

"Must be. It's supposed to be an old suburb somewhere north of here, you know it?" Bogo asked.

"Yeah, I lived there before the war. It's just a bit of a ways up the main road." Nick said.

"Well then, please lead the way." Bogo said, gesturing to the door. Nick started walking, with the rest of the Minutemen in tow. He looked back at Judy and gave her a brief smile, which she returned.

_'Yep, he's one of the good ones'_ she thought.


	8. Sanctuary

_**Zootopia is property of Disney** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda** _

* * *

It had been quite possibly the longest day of Nick's life. It felt like an eternity since he first woke up, ready to get to work, then come home to be with Shaun. In reality, Nick had only been conscious for a few hours.

They had made their way back to Sanctuary Hills, which the settlers decided to just shorten to 'Sanctuary.' Codsworth was overjoyed to have more people to look after. He helped gather firewood, find some suitable bedding for everyone, and did whatever else the settlers asked for. He was just happy to serve again.

They all decided to stay in only one house at the moment, at least until they fix up the rest of the place a bit more. It was located directly in the center of the neighborhood, giving them a nice centralized location to gradually spread outwards.

The first thing they all did when they arrived was loot through the rest of the buildings. They managed to find a fair bit. Extra food, extra ammo, even a small bunker behind one of the houses, packed with with food, bedding, and other useful supplies.

All of the Minutemen were currently seated around a campfire they had made in the backyard. The settlers had already gone to bed, being very tired from a long day of travel and fighting. Nick had decided to sit with the Minutemen around the campfire. Being naturally nocturnal meat he always had trouble falling asleep at night, so he thought he would try to wear himself down a bit.

The night sky showed more stars than he had ever seen, thanks to the lack of light pollution. Codsworth had offered to take the watch for the night, seeing as he didn't need food or sleep, so he was currently patrolling the outskirts of the neighborhood, his sensors letting him know of any movement nearby. Clawhauser was to Nick's left, cooking meat over the fire, with Wolford sitting across from him, anxiously waiting for it to be finished. Judy was sitting to the fox's right, eating a carrot, much to Nick's own amusement. Bogo and McHorn filled in the gaps between the rest of them.

"Really? Giant mosquitos?" Nick asked.

"I told you, they're called bloodbugs, and yes, they really do exist." she said, as she took another bite of her carrot. She was currently describing all the irradiated creatures that roamed the wasteland. He shouldn't be surprised mosquitos had survived. Cockroaches and horseflies had outlived the horrors of nuclear war, so why couldn't those little vermin too? Though they were now called radroaches and bloatflies according to Judy. Everything had to have a weird name now.

"Alright. Any other nightmares that you'd like to tell me about?" Nick said.

"Well there's mirelurks. They're used to be called, crabs I think, and are probably like, five to six feet high." Judy said.

 _'Giant crabs. Check.'_ Nick thought, checking another pest off his fictional 'what turned into a monster' list.

"Then there's radscorpions. They're… well… giant scorpions. I can't really think of a better way to describe them." she chuckled, finishing her carrot.

_'Giant scorpions. Check.'_

"Also there is the stingwing. They used to be... some kind of fly, right Ben?" The cheetah just shrugged. "Whatever they were, now they like to chase people down with big stingers on their tail ends."

_'Giant wasps or something. Check.'_

"You've already had the pleasure of meeting a deathclaw, so I think we can skip that. Next would be ghouls. Or, feral ghouls I should say."

"What's the difference?" Nick asked.

"Well, ghouls are essentially just heavily irradiated mammals that have somehow survived their exposure, and are now immune to radiation thanks to that. They're a bit more… difficult to look at, but they're still just... people. Feral ghouls different. They've kinda gone crazy, and just walk around on all fours, attacking anything they see. Although, not other ghouls interestingly enough. Even ones that haven't gone feral."

_'Zombies. Check.'_

"And last but not least there are super mutants. They also used to be mammals. But instead of normal radiation, they were exposed to… something else. Whatever it was made them big, green, and not friendly towards any regular mammal."

 _'Giant mutant savages. Check.'_ Nick was getting tired of this list.

"Okay, did anything _not_ become a deadly monster when the bombs fell?" Nick asked. They all gave a short laugh in response.

' _Not a good sign.'_

"Radchickens. We keep those guys in pens for the predators to eat. They're not much bigger than me actually." Judy said.

"Okay, seems like they haven't really changed in size then. Anything else?" Nick said.

Judy pondered his question for a moment. "The only other thing I can think of that _wouldn't_ want to kill you would be radhoppers. They used to be called… grasshoppers, or weedhoppers, something like that. Probably around the size of an otter. They never attack anyone, just jump away if you get too close. They're very passive creatures."

"And delicious ones." Clawhauser added.

"Speaking of delicious creatures, is that gonna be ready any time soon?" Wolford asked pointing at the meat over the fire, clearly annoyed."

Clawhauser rolled his eyes at the wolf. "You can't rush perfection you know. It takes time for the flavor to really reveal itself in radroaches."

"Screw perfection, I just want to eat! The moon is practically screaming at me to howl right now, so I need some food to keep me distracted. At least Nick here has the option of having some corn or something beforehand. I have to wait until you're finished ogling the damn thing. Lucky omnivore." the wolf stated.

"Hey now, can't blame my ancestors for wanting some _alternatives_ when it came to their meals." Nick said with a smirk. The wolf just huffed in response.

"Speaking of alternatives, you really need to try one of these mutfruit Nick. They're really good." Judy said.

"What is it?"

"I think they used to be called blueberries, did you like those back then?"

"Absolutely. What's changed about them?" Before he got a response she pulled a large, blueish purple fruit out of her bag. Nick's eyes grew wide as he reached out to grab the enlarged berry, and admired it in his paws. It was probably twice the diameter of a fox sized baseball.

"You've got to be kidding me." Nick said in disbelief. Judy giggled in response.

"Well don't keep us waiting. Try it." Judy said, nodding at Nick. He bit into the fruit, and his tastebuds were flooded with the familiar sensation of his favorite food.

"Okay." Nick said as he took another bite. "This has probably been my favorite thing about the apocalypse so far." He took several more large bites out of the fruit, savoring each one. The Minutemen couldn't help but laugh at his reaction. Even Bogo cracked a smile at the fox.

"Well I'm glad to see you approve. Those ones wouldn't hold a candle though to my parents ones back in Diamond City. They have some of the best produce around."

"In that case I may have to visit them at some point. Did you come from this 'Diamond City'?" He asked, finishing off the last of the mutfruit.

"Yep. Born and raised. Wanting to join the Minutemen was… not exactly looked favorably upon by my parents. They always wanted me to stay in the city where it was safe, but I just had to get out of there, you know? People needed my help out here." she said.

"Yeah I get it." Nick said. He always wanted to get out of his mom's place back when he was a kid. Not to join a militia or anything, but just because he wanted to be his own man. Judy's reason was a bit more selfless though.

"Anyway, I joined up when I was eighteen. Finally got out doing work just before I turned nineteen. Now… I'm just happy we made it out of Quincy". They had told Nick about the mercenary attack, and about the rest of their journey on the way up here. His situation was a bit more crazy, but he still felt bad for them none the less.

"So where's this place located?"

"It's in downtown Boston. Inside an old baseball stadium." Judy said.

Nick stopped and stared at the rabbit. "Wait, you mean Fenway?" She nodded. "You guys made a city _inside_ Fenway Park!?"

"Well we didn't make it, someone else did back in the 2130's but… yes, we did."

"Okay, now _that_ is something I have to see."

Judy chuckled. "Yeah it's quite the sight alright. The great green jewel."

"How many mammals live there?" Nick asked.

Judy thought for a minute, adding up all the individuals she could think of to get a rough estimate. "Well, not counting all the rodents, I'd say around, a hundred mammals."

"And counting the rodents?"

"Somewhere around two hundred, maybe two fifty, but they really don't take up that much space." Nick supposed it made sense that so many rodents were inside the city. If they managed to keep Fenway completely enclosed, it would probably be one of the safest places around.

"And how many of those one hundred mammals that aren't rodents are rabbits might I ask?" Nick said with a sly smile.

Judy scoffed at him. "You know, we don't have nearly as many kids as we used to. There's not enough space in the world now."

"Great Carrots. How many?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "There's three different families, so maybe like, twenty total?"

"Okay, that's not nearly as many as I was expecting. How many are in your family?"

"Seven kids, so nine bunnies in total. Our family is the largest in the city, so we're pretty well known."

Nick sighed in relief, seeing that the number was much smaller than he anticipated. "Seven kids is much more reasonable than a few hundred. You guys were absolutely mad for doing that back in the day. Glad to see you all learned some self control." She just glared at him, and he gave a smirk in response. "So, we've all learned a lot about both myself and Judy. What about the rest of you? What's your guy's story?" They all exchanged brief glances before Clawhauser spoke first.

"Well, I'm from Diamond City, like Judy." the cheetah said. "Everyone always thought she was crazy for wanting to join the Minutemen. I kinda did too, I guess."

"The difference is, you never told me I couldn't do it Ben. That's why I always liked you." she said, smiling at him. He returned her smile and continued.

"Anyway, I joined up a few years before Judy, for the same reason I guess. I just wanted to make the Commonwealth safer." Nick had to admire the cheetah for that.

"Yeah, well I suppose I'm just not as noble as you guys are," Wolford began. "I just wanted to be a part of, well, _something_. Figured the Minutemen would be a good choice."

"We can't all be saints." Nick said. "Where're you from?"

"Quincy." the wolf said, letting out a long sigh.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's fine. My folks were long dead before those mercs took the place. I hadn't been back there in a few years, so I wasn't _really_ a part of that town anymore. But still, I'm sad to see it go." Wolford stated. An awkward air floated over them, before McHorn broke the silence.

"I was born down in the Capital wasteland. Town by the name of Megaton. Probably one of the safest places down there, if you call living next to a nuke safe."

"You lived next to a nuke?" Nick asked.

"Yep. The town was built around the crater made by one that landed, but never exploded. We were always told it was inactive, but I still never went near the thing." Nick could understand that part, but the fact that such a town existed was still mind boggling to him.

"My parents moved us up here when I was ten." the rhino continued. "Wanted to find some place safer for me and my brother. They could never afford the caps to get a house inside Diamond City, so we eventually found our way to Bunker Hill. We settled down, and I joined up with the Minutemen in my late 20's."

"Are they still there?"

"As far as I know. They ran the inn there last I checked. We still write to each other when we can. Haven't had the time to in the last month though. I'm hoping I can let them know I'm okay soon." Nick felt bad for the rhino. The fox's parents always told him that family was always one of the most important things to have in your life. McHorn had them, but was unable to see them.

"Well, if I'm ever in Bunker Hill, I'll tell them you're alright." Nick said.

"I appreciate that." the rhino said.

"What about you Chief? Where're you from?" Nick asked. The buffalo seemed hesitant about telling him, but gave in.

"England, believe it or not."

"Really?" the fox asked. It was refreshing to know that there were mammals alive not just in America, but in other parts of the world as well.

"Yeah. Born in the ruins of London." Bogo said.

"I can see that now. Your accent makes a lot more sense. Are things over there any better than over here?"

"I wouldn't know. My parents found their way onto a boat crossing the ocean when I was just a baby. We just kind of wandered around while I was growing up, never settling for long. They always looked out for me though, made sure I being fed right, and cared for. I… lost them, to a group of raiders down in Pennsylvania when I was sixteen."

"I'm so sorry. They sound like they were good people." Nick said sadly.

"They were." the buffalo said. "As you can imagine, I had a very strong hatred of raiders after that. I heard about a group of mammals up here in the Commonwealth was taking the fight to them, so I made my way here, and the rest is history I suppose." Nick nodded his head in response.

"Anyway, enough about me, I want to get started on figuring out where your son went." Bogo started. Nick was enjoying getting to know the rest of these mammals, but now it was time to get serious.

"I don't really know where to start." Nick said, thinking about what to say. "His name is Shaun. He's less than a year old. He was taken from me when we were still in the vault."

"Do you have any idea who took him?" Judy asked.

"I saw a weasel, with some kind of brace on his arm, and some feline in a hazmat suit. That's all I got. They never said their names, or where they were going."

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but what happened to the mother?" Bogo asked.

"She… left us." was all Nick said.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Bogo replied.

"Don't be. I'm over it." he said, not entirely sounding like he meant it.

"So we have a kidnapping with little to no evidence and zero ways to find the mammals responsible. Any ideas?" Bogo asked.

Judy's eyes lit up, and she stood to face Nick. "Of course! Valentine!"

"Who?" Nick asked.

"Valentine! Nick Valentine! He's a private detective down in Diamond City. If anyone knows how to find your son, it has to be him."

"Well, he's got a nice name, but how do you know he'll be able to help?"

"Oh, he's helped out so many people in the city with different things. Missing mammals, theft, even the occasional arson case that the guards wrote off as an accident. He's got to know what to do."

"Well, looks like I'm gonna cross 'See Diamond City' of the bucket list." he said.

"Not without help you're not! No offense, but you wouldn't last a day out there on your own Slick. You need someone to go with you. Might as well be me." Judy said. Nick raised an eyebrow at her, surprised by her willingness to leave, and her new attitude.

An attitude that quickly went away once she realized that Bogo was staring her down.

"Oh uh, if that's okay with you sir." she stammered, and quickly sat back down. The buffalo let out a hardy laugh.

"It's okay Hopps. This actually works out rather well for us. We get to repay our debt to Mr. Wilde, as well as focus on rebuilding here."

"Rebuilding?" Wolford asked, tilting his head.

"Of course. We're not just gonna let the Minutemen die are we? We've got to get back out there and show people that there are still mammals out there willing to protect them, no matter what the cost. I think, that Sanctuary is the perfect place to start."

"Hell yeah!" McHorn cheered. The rest of the Minutemen gave their own little cheer, Wolford even letting out a light howl.

"Well looks like we got ourselves a plan then. Although, it would be nice if you could _ask_ the next time you want to travel with me Carrots." Nick said, putting on a fake judgmental look on his muzzle.

"Oh! I'm sorry Nick! I just really wanted to..." she quickly stammered before he cut her off.

"I'm just kidding, calm down. I'll gladly accept the offer."

"Dumb fox." she muttered. "We'd better hit the hay then. It's probably around a full days worth of travel from here to Diamond City, so we'll want to get started bright and early." she said.

"Sounds good. Goodnight everyone." Nick said, as they both stood up. The Minutemen all said goodnight, and while Judy went into the house the rest of the settlers were in, Nick went back to his own home. He didn't exactly feel comfortable sleeping around all those mammals he barely knew, so he resigned to sleep on his old couch. This was the first time in hours where he had time to just lay there and reflect on things.

_'What a day. Thrust into a new world with no idea what's going on. Full of giant bug, lizards, crabs, and who knows what else. Seems like other mammals can't even get along that well, if the raiders are any indication.'_

His mind wondered back to the fights that occurred down in Concord.

 _'Those damn maniacs tried to kill me. I didn't even hesitate to shoot back. But it was just in self defense though. Why is this bothering me?'_ At the time, he was so focused on trying to get those settlers out of that museum, that he didn't even really think about what he was doing. Now however he was able to fully grasp what had happened back in Concord.

_'I killed those mammals.'_

_'I didn't feel bad about it.'_

_'I… I enjoyed it.'_

_'Oh God, what's wrong with me?'_

He tried to ignore these thoughts as best he could, and worked his way slowly to sleep. He had a job to do. He needed his rest.

It was not a peaceful nights slumber.


	9. Orange Colored Sky

_**Zootopia is property of Disney** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda** _

* * *

Judy's internal clock woke her up at around six, just like it did every morning. She was very excited to get on the road to Diamond City. Not only would she be helping Nick find his son, but she would get a chance to see her own family as well. She hadn't had time off to visit them in over two months, just before she was reassigned to Colonel Hollis's unit. They were probably worried sick about her.

She had the chance back when they took the settlers to Diamond City, but were denied entry. The guards were willing to let her in, seeing as she was a resident, but she refused. She needed to make sure the settlers found a new home.

Luckily they had just succeeded in doing that, and now Judy was able to make the trip back to the city. She walked out of the house they were all currently in, and went across the street to Nick's home, where he opted to spend the night.

_'It's gonna be a long days travel.'_ Judy thought. _'But, if we make good time, we should make it home before sunset. All we_ _'ve_ _got_ _to do is get going right…'_

She walked through the front door to find Nick, still sleeping on the couch.

_'Now…'_

"Nick!" she yelled, trying to wake him. He jumped at the sound of her voice, darting his eyes around quickly before seeing it was her.

"Oh… hey Carrots." he said with a yawn, readjusting himself so he was now sitting normally on the couch. "Uh, when where you planning on heading out?"

"Well I wanted to leave now, but you don't exactly seem fit for travel. Did you get any sleep last night?" If he wasn't at 100%, they would have much worse chances of making it to Diamond City.

"I got… some, yes." he said groggily. "It just wasn't exactly the best nights rest I've ever had."

"Feeling a little homesick?" she asked. It was a bit ironic. He was sitting in his house right now, yet he wasn't _really_ home. This was someplace new. Someplace different.

His face was nervous, like he was quickly trying to find something to say. Based on what she knew about him so far, this seemed very odd. Yesterday he was able to immediately react to any words thrown at him, but now he didn't seem himself.

"Um… yeah, yeah. You could say that." he managed to say.

_'Something is definitely up with him. What's he hiding?. Maybe he's just like this in the morning. Better find out.'_ she thought.

"You okay Slick? You seem a little, I don't know, out of it right now." she pestered.

"I'm fine. Just a rough night is all." he said, still not sounding like he meant it. Even now he was trying to maintain his cool, disregarding the fact that he let it slip enough already.

_'He came from an entirely different time period. He's probably not adjusted to everything yet. Just talk to him about it.'_

"Are you handling everything okay? All this is probably a lot to take in, and I just want to make sure you're doing alright."she aked. He looked into her eyes briefly before sighing, seeming to give in.

"No, everything is not okay. I had a lot on my mind last night." he said.

"Were you thinking about your son? Or did you have a nightmare or something..." she started.

"No, no. It's just… well… I kept thinking about what happened in Concord."

"Was that your first time in a fight?"

"No, I've gotten into a few before. Fistfights I mean, nothing like what happened down there. It's just… killing. I never had to kill anyone before."

"Hey, I understand." she said giving a soft, reassuring smile. "You're feeling a little guilty about it. I was the same way when I first join the Minutemen." She had actually been more than a little guilty. She had known that the raiders she had shot were bad people, and would hurt innocents otherwise. But still the guilt was enough that she had briefly considered quitting altogether. She was eventually able to rationalize it though.

"I mean yeah, I am, but in a different way. I killed them in self defense. There was no chance of negotiating, so it had to be done. I feel a little bad about it, but thats not what I'm mainly upset about." He let out a long sigh. "I liked it."

"You, what?" she asked, confused by where this was going.

"I was thinking back to when I had to kill them, and realized that I liked it. The rush of it I mean. I got enjoyment out of it." He put his head in his paws, trying to hold himself together. "I hate myself for thinking that, but I know that's what happened. I-I don't want to like it. What kind of monster would that make me?"

She had to think over his words for a moment. She had never liked killing. It was a necessity however, something one had to do when traveling around the Commonwealth, but she still never enjoyed doing it. This was clearly a delicate situation, one that Nick had never experienced before, and one she certainly didn't have any knowledge on. She needed to choose her words carefully.

"Well, do you think you know _why_ you liked it?" Judy asked.

"I just… got a rush from it. I'd never done anything like that before."

"Okay. So did you just enjoy like, the actual rush, or was it just the fact that you killed someone?"

"I-I don't know. I didn't realize how angry I was at the time. A lot of crazy stuff had just happened to me, so maybe I just…. needed a vent. Do you think that's what it was?"

"I… really don't know Nick. I've never had to talk with someone about this before." Some rookie Minutemen always showed some guilt there first time having to kill, and she had told them about her own experience. She never had to explain anything like this though.

He was looking down at his feet now, guilt showing on his face. He seemed so… vulnerable. Before, he was confident, relaxed, and more than a little cocky. Now he was an entirely different mammal.

_'This really must be eating him up.'_ she thought. She moved and sat down on the couch next to him.

"Listen Nick, I'm not going to pretend like I know what you're going through. Clearly this is bothering you, and I don't really have any answers for you right now. What I do know, is that your son is out there somewhere, and we need to find him. The sooner we leave, the better. But… don't try to ignore this thing. If you ever need someone to talk to, don't be afraid to ask, okay?" She put a paw on his shoulder, and a small smile broke on his muzzle.

"Okay Carrots. I'll try." he said, his normal demeanor slowly returning.

"Thank you." she said, returning his smile. "Now, back to business. We really need to get going soon if we want to get there before sundown. We do _not_ want to get caught without shelter during the night."

"Uh, I'm a fox, sweetheart. I don't need to worry about a little darkness." he said, causing Judy to scoff. He seemed much more like himself already.

"Well I _do_ need to worry about it _sweetheart_ , and I doubt you'll be the only thing out there with night vision. So let's get going _now_." she said standing up and gesturing to the front doorway.

"Alright, alright. Just give me a minute." He got up slowly from the couch, still clearly tired. He needed to be at his best, and this was not it.

He needed a little pick me up.

A sugary, caffeine ridden pick me up.

Judy pulled her bag out from behind her, and looked inside for the Nuka Cola she had found inside one of the houses. She was hoping to save for a quick refreshment during their journey, but Nick needed it more right now. She found the bottle in question, and pulled it out of her bag.

"Drink up sleepyhead, you need to be alert. I don't want to have to be listening for every little sound the entire way there."

"Even though you will be regardless?" he asked, grabbing the bottle.

"Yes, even though I will be regardless." she got off the couch, grabbing her bag and headed for the door. "I'll be outside. Get everything you need _quickly_ , and let's get going."

"See you then Carrots." he said with a wink, before opening the cola and turning his attention to his bag.

She walked outside, trying to think of ways to pass the time while Nick got ready.

_'Take inventory? Nah, I've already done that three times. Quick patrol of the perimeter? No, Codsworth can handle it. Might as well say goodbye to everyone.'_

She went back to the group's house, only to find them still asleep. It was only six o'clock after all, and they were all very tired the night before. She eyed them all, resting in sleeping bags, or on mattresses they found in the neighborhood. She noticed two of them were empty. One sleeping bag was hers, and the other mattress was…

"Morning Hopps." she heard an english accent say.

She jumped at the sound, looking to her left. She found General Bogo sitting in a chair in the kitchen. For such a big guy, he was surprisingly quite.

"Oh, good morning sir. I didn't see you there." she said, still a bit startled by him.

"I could see that. Are you and Wilde about to head out?" he asked.

"As soon as he's finished getting everything ready, yeah."

"Well in that case, now will be as good a time as any."

_'What's this about?'_ she wondered.

"Do you remember two nights ago, just before Wolford gave Mamma Murphy more jet?" he asked.

"Yes sir. You were about to tell me something, then ran off to stop him."

"Indeed. I was going to tell you how much you… surprised me." he said.

"What do you mean by that?"

"When you were first reassigned to Colonel Hollis's group, I thought that you'd either be dead within the week, or run back to Diamond City where you belonged. But you surprised me. You've shown how dedicated you are to this job over the last month. You kept with this group when things were at there worst. You never gave up hope that we would find a home for these mammals. You even denied going back to your own home, just so you could help this group find safety. What I'm trying to say is, thank you. For being exactly what every Minuteman should strive to be."

Judy was overjoyed. She had been fighting to gain recognition for years, wanting to prove that she belonged there. Now the General was saying she was what they should all strive to be. It didn't matter to her that there were only three other Minutemen. It meant the world to her. She would've responded, were it not for a voice out in the street.

"I thought you were ready go Carrots! Awfully impolite of you to keep a guy waiting!"

Bogo let out a light chuckle. "Sounds like he's ready. Go help that fox get his son back Hopps, then get your tail back here. We're going to need your help." She stood and gave him a salute, trying to keep a serious expression, but her happiness caused her to falter.

"Yes sir." she said excitedly, before she ran out the front door, eager to get the journey started.

She saw Nick standing out in front of the house, sly smile on his face, blue vault suit on his body, slightly oversized backpack on his back.

"There you are. Thought maybe you'd bailed on me."

He'd been sarcastic enough already. It was her turn.

"Oh I wanted to, believe me. But, Bogo gave me an order to take you to Diamond City and I can't go against command. Looks like I'll just have to put up with you." she said, letting out a clearly fake disappointed sigh.

"You wound me Carrots, you really do."

They walked side by side, crossing the bridge leading out of the neighborhood. It was going to be a long trip. They would need some entertainment to pass the time.

"Can you turn on the radio on that thing? I think we could use some traveling music." Judy said pointing to Nick's pip-boy."

"Sure. I mean, I haven't had much time to tinker with it, but I think I can figure it out. Do you want... classical, or Diamond City Radio?" Nick asked.

"DCR, I don't think classical would really fit the tone right now."

"Okay, one sec… got it" The static cleared, and they could hear a shaky male voice speaking over the radio.

" **That was The Five Stars. All… all five of them. Get it? Because it's… well it's funny… sort of… okay not really."**

Nick looked over at Judy, raising an eyebrow at her.

" _This_ , is your radio DJ? He sounds like he hasn't spoken to another person his whole life." Nick said.

"That's just Travis. His dad created the radio station years ago, the guy was born with a voice for it. When he died, Travis took over. Everything still runs fine, and the tracks are always playing. He's just a little… lacking in confidence."

"That's one way to put it Carrots." he said, before the DJ spoke again.

" **Uh, what about some… Nat King Mole? He's good right? Uh… so here's Orange Colored Sky."**

"Oh, this one's a classic. I'd better turn this thing up."

"You're damn right you'd better Slick."

Judy couldn't help but feel a sense of bliss at this moment. She was listening to one of her favorite songs, snapping her fingers every time there was a 'flash', 'bam', or 'alakazam', and was starting a long journey home with a new friend by her side.

And this was only the start. When she's finished helping Nick find his son, she's going to come back to Sanctuary and make sure that the Minutemen rise up again to be the protectors they were always meant to be.

And she would help make the world a better place.


	10. Long Road Ahead

_**Zootopia is property of Disney** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda** _

* * *

Nick couldn't help but feel a little discouraged at the sight of the landscape before him. He remembered driving up this road on his way up to Sanctuary with Shaun. Back then the trees were rich and healthy, the leaves were beginning to turn yellow, and flowers scattered on the ground were colorful and calming.

Now the trees were long dead, charred and blackened, with the leaves and flowers now nonexistent. Seeing everything so deteriorated really put a damper on Nick's otherwise content mood.

"Hey, you okay?" he heard to his left. He turned to face Judy, and inquisitive look on her face. "You seemed bothered by something." she said.

"Nah, I'm fine. It's just… seeing the way the world is now. It's a little, well… depressing." Nick said as they walked. Music was still playing over his pip-boy, but he lowered it to talk to her.

"I think I can understand why you'd say that" she said, eyeing the trees to their right. "What was it like back then?"

"You could be a little more specific Carrots. If you mean that forrest over there, it was a whole lot prettier."

"Well yeah, I know things were more green. It's just… what was _life_ like back then, you know?" she asked, now looking directly at Nick.

He had to think about this question for a moment. On one hand, you had the world at home. It was a peaceful existence, full of luxuries once thought the realm of science fiction. One the other, you had the world as a whole. Countries engaging in massive conflicts over the last drops of oil. That part, he didn't miss, but the first part? Absolutely.

"I drove from Boston to Sanctuary in a little over an hour when I moved up there. I didn't have to fear that anyone would attack me, or rob me for everything I had. Mammals didn't have to do that back then. Life _here_ , as in at home, was amazing. I can't speak well of the rest of the world though. Everyone just kind of, started fighting in the last few years before the war. Rather than find solutions they could all use, countries were more interested in looking out for themselves."

"Wow." she said, her eyes now turning in front of her. "You don't really hear much about the rest of the world. It's pretty common knowledge about the fighting with China, but everyone else? That's a little..."

"Depressing?" he asked.

She nodded her head. "When we think of pre-war life, we think of relative peace, and never having to worry about food or water. Not about international politics."

"Oh, so politics is still a thing? Might as well give up on this world now." he said with a sly grin.

"I'm hoping that you won't see much of it in Diamond City, but yeah, we still have that charm."

They walked along the ruined road, passing by lonely log cabins in the woods, as well as the occasional rusted down car. None of them would work, according to Judy, which was really a shame. If they could fix one up, they could be at the city in no time at all.

Nick eyed his handkerchief tied to Judy's left leg, still there from when he'd wrapped up her wound.. Quite a bit of time had passed since she received the injury, so he should probably check up on it.

"How's your leg treating you?" he asked, pointing at his handkerchief. She looked down, moving her leg slightly in different ways to get a feel for how it was doing.

"I don't think it's fully healed yet, but it doesn't hurt much anymore." she said.

"You sure you don't want a stimpak? I have some spares."

"I told you, I don't need one for something this small. Besides, those things always make me a little dizzy." You couldn't get rapid healing without a few side effects unfortunately. They seemed to vary for each species. Foxes luckily didn't have that bad of reactions to it, but bunnies would sometimes get a bit disoriented.

"Suit yourself. Enjoy bloodying up that handkerchief." he said with a grin.

"It's red Slick, I don't think it'll show up that well." she said, returning his grin. He would've responded, had it not been for the godawful DJ speaking up again.

" **This is uh... it's me, Travis. Anyway… uh… here's some more music."** the DJ said, and the track began to play.

_'At least he has good taste in music. Otherwise I'd be listening to classical the whole trip.'_ he thought.

They continued to walk, chatting idly and listening to the radio, which had a surprisingly good selection considering all the time that'd passed. They eventually came upon a peculiar scene. A wolf and a cougar, standing outside an old Drumlin Diner, shouting at someone inside.

"We had a deal Trudy! Hand over the goods, you owe us!" the wolf said. A female zebra inside the diner responded.

"I ain't giving you poison shilling chem pushers anything! Do you know what that junk has done to my boy?" The zebra said.

They'd told Nick about chems back in Sanctuary. It's what most mammals now called drugs. They'd given him a brief rundown of the stuff to avoid. Pshyco and jet were the most notable new ones, but it seemed that mentats, buffout, and even day-tripper, which were all made before the war, were still occasionally found around the wasteland. Nick turned down his radio, wanting to avoid detection for now.

"He bought them fair and square, Trudy!" the wolf continued. "Ain't our fault if he's strung out. Now don't make me come in there and shoot up that little trading post of yours!" Upon hearing this Judy rushed forward, much to Nick's dismay.

_'What_ _are you doing you dumb bunny_ _?'_ he thought. The dealers saw Judy move forward, and raised their weapons.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there little bunny. This doesn't involve you." the wolf said, his revolver aim directly at Judy, who stopped in place.

Nick saw Judy's paw twitch near her pistol. He needed to intervene or this could get out of hand fast.

"Hey, hey, hey, let's just calm down here. No need for things to get violent." he said, placing a paw in front of Judy.

"Should listen to your friend, bunny. Last thing anyone needs right now is a few bullet holes in em, but I'm getting what's mine, even if I to go through you." the dealer said.

"There's no need for any of that. Right Carrots?" he said, piercing his eyes at Judy.

She looked furious. She obviously wanted to help the zebra inside the diner, but it certainly wasn't worth getting shot over.

"No, there isn't." she reluctantly said, and relaxed her paw at her side.

"Good. Maybe you'd like to give us a hand then?" the dealer asked.

"We are _not_ helping you two shoot up that diner! They owe you caps, not their lives!" Judy yelled.

"Well if you don't want a fight to break out, maybe you can talk some sense into Trudy. Show her she needs to pay up." the dealer said.

Nick thought it over for a moment. The zebra inside seemed _very_ reluctant to pay her debts. He doubted that even with his smooth talking skills he would be able to convince her. The dealers on the other hand, he could possibly work with. He had to associate with some drug dealers back in the day, and knew that only two things mattered to them. Getting their money, and getting more product, which of course would result in getting more money.

The money part he couldn't help with. He only had a hundred caps to his name, and wouldn't really be willing to pay for the zebra's debts anyhow.

The product part though? Well he had an idea for that.

_'Time to get into character.'_

"How about we make a trade instead?" Nick asked, forcing himself to relax and put on his best salesman smile, earning a questionable look from Judy.

"I doubt anything you got in that bag is worth enough to cover the cost, vault boy." the dealer said.

"Oh I'm not talking trading goods." he said, advancing slowly towards the two dealers. "I'm talking information."

"Information? On what?"

"Well, let's say that somewhere nearby, there's a group of raiders that had the unfortunate fate of going toe to toe with a few Minutemen. Let's also say that that same group of raiders just so happened to be doped out of their minds, and more than likely still had a fair amount of goods on them when they quite literally bit the bullet."

"Pssh, yeah. You expect me to believe that, fox? Even if that is true, how the hell do I know you haven't already taken any chems off them?" the wolf asked.

"Oh, I'm trying to stay clean. That stuff always makes me go a bit crazy. Now I know for a fact that the Minutemen did gun down those raiders. I was there myself, as well as my… associate." he said gesturing to the rabbit behind him. "And even if we did already take the chems, which we didn't, They still have guns, ammo, and who knows what else just lying around, ripe for the taking."

The wolf seemed to be at least considering it, if his conflicted face and occasional glance to his partner were any indication.

"Now I would be completely willing to point you in the right direction. If you agreed to… oh, I don't know, let our striped friend in there off the hook?" Nick said, pointing over his shoulder at the diner.

The two dealers exchanged glances once again, and luckily for Nick the looks on their faces showed that they seemed to be thinking over their options.

"So, do we have a deal then?" Nick said, extending his paw to the wolf, his bright salesman smile shining.

* * *

_'Okay, he is definitely hiding something.'_ Judy thought.

Nick hadn't lived in the Commonwealth for even a full day yet, but apparently he just magically knew exactly how to get a chem dealer to forget about the caps they were owed? Likely story. This guy either dipped his paw in a few drugs back in the day, or at least worked around those who did.

She never fully believed his 'ice cream shop' story. His friend who had a hobby in lock-picking convinced her that, at the very least, he wasn't telling the full story.

Now she just had to call him out on it.

The dealers had agreed, and Nick told them to head to Concord and grab as much as they could carry. The zebra in the diner, Trudy, was grateful that he convinced them to leave, saying that even if that was all a lie and they came back for her late, she would at least be ready for them. She gave him fifty caps in return for the help.

They began to head southwards down the road once again, continuing their journey. After the diner dropped out of sight, Judy decided now would be the time for answers.

"So, were you able to sample many drugs working at that ice cream shop?" she asked, turning to him with a 'how dumb do you think I am' expression.

"Carrots, I think you're smart enough to realize my apparent drug history back there was part of an act. I haven't used any stuff like that since my teens." he said.

"Right, right. Why don't you tell me what you _really_ did back then?" she said, still giving him the same look.

"I told you, I worked at an ice cream shop _just before_ the bombs fell. I never lied to you."

"Okay what about before all that?" she asked.

"That's a different story." he said, putting on his sly smirk.

"Okay so, what did you do then? Sell drugs? Make them?"

"Oh God no, only thing close to that I did was run some messages between warehouses back in Boston when I was a kid."

"So you- wait, when you were a kid?"

"Yeah, I was like twelve or thirteen. Not the kind of job most kids get I know. It certainly didn't pay any better than the rest."

"Well, why did you do that? How even?"

"Oh I just walked up to them, asked for a job, and they gave me one. Not difficult at all. As to why, well… no other places would've hired me. Hell, I was lucky enough to get that ice cream job." he said.

"Why wouldn't they hire you?" she asked. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she only became more confused.

"Really? Do I even have to answer that question? They took one look at _this_ ," he gestured to himself, "and decided that I'd probably steal from the store if they hired me, or that I'd let my buddies rob the place. The only thing most people saw was a shifty low life who probably picked pockets for a living. I never had a chance, so I did what I had to."

Judy was starting to regret bringing up his past. He had a constant annoyed expression on his muzzle when he talked about his childhood. She always knew that back then, some mammals were not treated as equally as others. Hell, even now there was a bit of animosity towards some species, even foxes, but not to that extent. Most of the hatred was directed at ghouls, not normal mammals. Hearing this just caused her opinion of pre-war life to dip even lower.

"Oh, Nick. I'm so sorry. I couldn't imagine what that must be like." she said. To her surprise, he turned and gave a light grin.

"I think you might have some idea Carrots. Didn't people always try and step on your dreams?" She smiled at this. True mammals never believed that she could join the Minutemen. They always thought she was crazy. Nick's situation was a whole lot different from hers though.

"Nick, I appreciate the thought, I really do. But you probably had things so much worse than I did. I had parents who loved me, close friends, brothers and sisters to be with. You didn't have any of that."

"Oh no, my parents were around. They never married, and I always kinda knew I was an accident, but they were there for me at least. No brothers or sisters though. And not many friends till I moved out of my moms place." he said, looking off into the distance with his ears folded behind his head.

This was only making her more upset. He was genuinely one of the nicest mammas she'd ever met, but nobody had ever given him a chance growing up. She needed to comfort him, or more accurately, she needed to comfort him so he could comfort her.

She stopped both of them where they walked, placing a paw on his arm. His ears were now perked up, and he was looking at her again.

"I really am sorry for you Nick. Those other mammals never knew what kind of guy they were missing out on." she said, giving a soft smile. He returned it with a grin, and raised his eyebrows with a mischievous look.

_'He's probably about to insult me in some way, maybe give a small thank you afterwards, along with that stupid smirk.'_ she thought.

"I know you're a bunny Carrots, but don't be so emotional. You're the one who brought this all up. Thanks though." he said, giving off his usual smirk.

_'Yep, got it down now.'_

"Ha ha." she said jokingly, her mood already improving. "In all seriousness though, you never did pick any pockets right?"

"Nope. Anything I ever took, the owner willingly gave me." he said as they continued walking.

"How does that work?" she asked.

"You just have to get a good read on the person, know what to say, and how to say it. Convince them that you have something they want, and then presto, you've got yourself a nice profit." She raised her eyebrows at him, and gave off a small laugh.

"Let me get this straight. You, were a con-man." she asked

"I always preferred the term hustler, but yes. Yes I was."

"Okay, now your sudden smooth talking abilities back at the diner make a lot more sense." she said with a chuckle. "So how does a con- I mean hustler, suddenly find himself at an ice cream shop so many miles away from Boston?"

His face lost it's smile once again. He didn't look sad necessarily, more like he was just reflecting on things.

"Well, when you have a kid you start to look at things a little differently. I didn't want Shaun to do what I had to for a living. That coupled with his mom leaving, and I just decided a change of scenery would do us both some good."

She wanted to ask more about the mother, but decided that wasn't the best thing to do right now. That would probably just make him depressed, and she didn't like it when he looked depressed. When Nick had his light hearted, joking attitude, you just wanted to keep talking to the guy. She wanted him to stay like that.

She would've kept focused on their conversation, had it not been for a group of bloodbugs buzzing nearby. Her ears first picked up the sound, and she was quickly able to spot the bugs flying into an old cabin just off the right side of the road. Gunshots were soon heard inside, and Nick and Judy exchanged brief glances before rushing towards the cabin's entrance.

Inside they found four bloodbugs, one of them already dead, and the other three buzzing around the room trying to get an angle on a ghoul inside. He was definitely a feline, but without any fur, it was hard to tell exactly what species he was.

The bloodbugs hadn't yet noticed Nick and Judy, so they were able to easily pop a few shots into them, dropping the insects to the floor.

"Damn, that certainly wasn't what I wanted to wake up to this morning. Thank you both for the help." the ghoul said through his extremely gravelly voice. It was a common trait among ghouls, though some sounded fairly normal.

"No problem. Happy to help." Judy said, putting on what she called her Minuteman face, a combination of a serious, but also caring expression. She thought she looked stoic when she did it, though others just said she looked cute. She looked up at Nick to see him staring wide eyed at the feline ghoul. She bumped him on the side, breaking him out of his trance.

"I'm guessing your friend here's never seen a ghoul before?" the feline asked. Before she could answer, Nick spoke up.

"I'm sorry about that. It's just that… I'm kinda new around here." he said, looking down at his vault-suit.

"Don't worry about it. I'll take a few stares over some verbal abuse any day." the ghoul said. They all gave quick goodbyes, and the two of them got back on the road. Once they got some distance on the cabin, Nick spoke up.

"You said they were a bit more difficult to look at, but damn Carrots! You didn't say they looked like the worlds worst burn victim."

"Nick..." she said.

"And _those_ were bloodbugs? You really should've just called them giant mosquitos." he continued.

"Nick!" she yelled, causing his mouth to slam shut. "First of all, try to be a little more sensitive towards ghouls, they get enough crap out here as it is. Second, 'giant mosquito' doesn't flow off the tongue as well as bloodbug does, so please drop it. It's only noon, and we still have a long road ahead of us."

"Whatever you say Fluff." he said, looking ahead with a grin.

"Fluff now is it?" she chuckled. "What happened to Carrots?"

"Oh it's still there. Fluff is just another one I might have to use every now and then. Carrots will still be the main one though, don't you worry."

"Oh boy, I'm thrilled." She said with a sarcastic tone.

* * *

Another few hours passed, with the radio's playlist having looped through itself at least twice by now. They were walking by Lexington currently, having just gone underneath one of the old overpasses. They made sure to be walking around the outside of the town, not wanting to run into any feral ghouls. Judy was working up the courage to ask him more about his past, but wasn't sure how get that conversation started again. Luckily for her, Nick was able to do it for her.

"Ah, the Lexington Corvega plant. My buddy Finnick used to work there for a while. Before we became partners in… completely legitimate business endeavors." Nick said.

"You had a partner? You seem more like the 'work alone' type to me." Judy said.

"I was. For a while at least. Then I bumped into him one day, found out he had skills that complemented mine well, and started working together."

"What type of 'skills' are we talking about here?" she asked with a grin.

"Well I had the people skills. He had the 'do what I say or I hurt you' skills."

"So he was pretty much your bodyguard. Was he a tiger? A bear?"

"First off, he wasn't my bodyguard, he just had some skills that I didn't. Second, he was a fennec fox."

"Wha- seriously? Those guys are smaller than me!" she said, not believing his statement.

"It's true. You should've seen how scared he could make an elephant. He used his size to his advantage. We even pulled a few cons where he pretended to be my kid." he said.

"He pretended to be Shaun!?" she yelled. If that was the case, she was starting to question Nick's parental judgment.

"Oh no, Shaun hadn't even been conceived when we were pulling this one. We just dressed him up in the right attire, went about our business, and where able to get some sympathy from mammals who normally wouldn't have given us the time of day."

"Damn. He sounds like quite the character." she said. His face lowered, and his ears folded behind his head again.

"Yeah, he was. Had a bit of a temper, but he was a good guy." he said in a sad voice.

_'Great job Judy, way to go out there.'_ she thought. She'd made him depressed again, this reminding him of the friends he'd had, ones he clearly missed. She made a mental note to stop making him think about all that. He needed to focus, and getting him caught up on mammals who've been long dead was not the way to do that.

Before she could attempt to comfort him, he turned his attention to his pip-boy, probably trying to turn up the radio. A confused look appeared on his face as he fiddled with the device.

"Military Frequency AF95? The hell…?" he said, before activating the frequency. A female voice was heard over the speaker.

" **Automated message repeating. This is Scribe Haylen of reconnaissance squad Gladious, to any unit within transmission range."** the voice said before a long pause.

"What is this supposed to be?" Nick asked, turning to Judy.

"No idea." she said. She truly had no clue what anything in that message was about. The voice came back, speaking once more.

" **Our unit has sustain casualties, and we're running low on supplies.** **We're requesting support, or evac from our location, at Cambridge police station."** After another long pause, the message repeated again. Nick turned off the radio, and turned to Judy.

"Do you think these could be more Minutemen?" he asked. It was unlikely. Not impossible, but unlikely, and she had never heard of a 'reconnaissance squad Gladious' before. Minutemen squads were usually named after whoever led that squad, and she doubted anyone had the name Gladious.

"I don't think so, but whoever they are, they need help. Do you mind if we take a small detour?" she asked. Though she was away from the rest of her group, it was still her duty to protect the people of the Commonwealth, and she couldn't ignore that.

"Lead the way Carrots." he said nodding towards the direction of Cambridge. They picked up the pace, hoping that they would get there in time.


	11. Fire Support

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Changed the rating from Teen and up, to Mature for later chapters.

 

_**Zootopia is property of Disney** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda** _

* * *

Judy had made it abundantly clear to Nick that they shouldn't go through the College Square to get to the police station. She said it was filled with feral ghouls, and that they would be better off finding a way around.

She had already told Nick about ferals. He knew they attacked almost anything on sight, so he would have to keep them at a distance. He had met a ghoul who wasn't feral a few hours earlier, so he at least had an idea of what they would look like.

But none of that prepared him for the police station.

They entered Cambridge through a back alley, ensuring that nothing would ambush them on the way to the distress signal. They could hear the sounds of laser weapons firing outside, and assumed that was where they needed to go. After a short walk through more back alleys, they found their way to the police station, approaching the front courtyard from behind the station.

There was a black bear in power armor, except without the helmet on, firing what looked like a laser rifle. Behind him was a snow leopard, appearing to tend to the wounds of a cheetah lying against the front of the building, who was firing a laser pistol in one paw. The creatures he was firing at were, like Nick had imagined earlier, basically zombies. They had no fur on their bodies, like the ghoul from earlier, but they were undeniably much more hideous than their non-feral brethren. Their skin was more heavily charred, and deteriorated. Their eyes, glowing a yellowish green, and their mouths hanging open at all times. The clothes they wore were torn and run down, and some of them were completely nude. They were walking down on all fours, charging at the bear as he fired away. The bear managed to take out most of the horde, knocking back a few ferals that got too close with a swing of his rifle, before he looked out at the street in front of the courtyard.

"Another wave! Ready yourselves!" the bear yelled at the mammals behind him. A horde of at least fifteen ferals charged though the almost military like barricade that separated the street from the courtyard. From otters and giraffes, to lions and antelopes, it seemed that no species was safe from the condition.

Nick and Judy quickly pulled out their pistols and began firing at the rotting ghouls. The bear turned to them with a surprised look, but focused his attention back on the horde, seeming to understand that they were there to help. Nick fired at what looked like a koala, who had just run through the front gate. It swiftly fell to the ground, and he turned his attention to a squirrel that was getting a bit too close to the bear.

He was feeling it now. That rush he got back in Concord. He was fighting again and he was loving it.

But at the same time he hated it.

_'Why do I enjoy this? Stop it!'_ he thought, losing his focus on the battle.

"Nick, watch it!" he heard Judy say. He turned to his left to see a canine ghoul charging at him, it's teeth barred and ready to strike. The ghoul lunged at him, and Nick swiftly dove out of the way. The creature was obviously surprised by this, judging by the way it flailed it's limbs at Nick as it soared through the air. When it landed, Judy was quick to finish it off with her shotgun, and they turned their attention back to the horde in front of them.

After a few more brief moments, the ghouls were all finished, and the bear approached them, still not seeming completely relaxed.

"We appreciate the assistance civilians, but what's your business here?" the bear asked with a serious expression.

_'Civilians? Who are these guys supposed to be?'_ Nick thought.

"We heard your distress signal," Judy said before Nick could speak. "figured we could lend you guys a hand." she said, putting on that same weird, cute expression she'd made back when they rescued that ghoul from bloodbugs.

"Well, it's certainly nice to know there's folks out here willing to help. Are you two from a local settlement?"

"Diamond City. I mean, I'm from there at least." Judy said, looking over at Nick.

"You can take a good guess at where I'm from." Nick said, glancing down at his vault-suit.

"Indeed. Most mammals wouldn't be caught dead walking around in one of those suits if they came out of a vault. I appreciate your honesty." the bear said.

_'Appreciate my honesty? Why wouldn't I be honest about it?'_ Nick wondered.

"I apologize if I seem suspicious, but our mission here has been difficult." the bear started. "Since the moment we arrived in the Commonwealth, we've been constantly under fire. If you two are willing, we could use a few extra guns at our side."

Nick knew that Judy would probably want to help them out, but he didn't know anything about these mammals. They seemed very militaristic, but what army could they have come from? He needed to find out.

"I mean, we'd certainly be willing to help you guys out, but this seems kind of one sided right now. Why don't we start with some introductions?" he said, glancing between the mammals. The bear huffed in response, but still introduced himself.

"Very well. I'm Paladin Danse, Brotherhood of Steel. Behind me is Scribe Haylen, and Knight Rhys."

"A pleasure to meet you." the snow leopard said, while the cheetah sat silently against the wall.

"Well Danse, Haylen, Rhys…" Nick began. "I'm Nick. My adorable little companion here is Judy. It's good to meet all of you." He looked down at Judy to see her scowling at him, and he gave her a grin in response. He then looked back up at Danse. "So what are you guys doing out here?"

"We're on recon duty, but I'm down a man and our supplies are running low. I've been trying to send a distress call to my superiors, but the signal's too weak to reach them." Danse said.

"Sir, if I may?" the snow leopard began.

"Proceed Haylen." Danse said with a nod.

"I've modified the radio tower on the roof of the police station, but I'm afraid it just isn't enough. What we need is something that will boost the signal. ArcJet should still hold the necessary tools."

"Thank you Haylen." the bear said, turning back to face Nick and Judy. "ArcJet Systems contains what we believe to be a deep range transmitter, powerful enough to allow us to send a message back to command. It's around a ten minute hike to the northwest. We infiltrate the facility, take down any security still active, secure the transmitter, and bring it back here."

_'What command is this guy talking about?'_

"So, what do you say? You willing to lend the Brotherhood of Steel a hand?" Danse said, still maintaining the same serious expression. Nick wanted to ask what this 'Brotherhood' was, but Judy quickly spoke up.

"Could you give us a minute to talk it over?" she asked, a somewhat worried look on her face.

"Of course. We'll be inside should you decide to help. If not, then have a safe journey." Danse said. They filed inside the police station, leaving Nick and Judy outside to themselves.

"What's up Carrots?" Nick asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"What's up is that these Brotherhood guys have a bit of a history around the wasteland. I haven't heard a whole lot about them, this is the first time I've ever seen any of them, but what I have heard hasn't been all that great." she said, trying to keep her voice down.

"Well, what kind of stuff have you heard?"

"They're kind of a mixed bag it seems. I've heard that they made a giant water purifier down in the Capital wasteland, started giving away clean water for free."

"That doesn't sound bad at all." he said. She rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm not finished yet. I've also heard stories about them hoarding weapons to themselves, attacking anyone that became too powerful. That's kind of their MO. They try to keep technology out of the hands those who would abuse it."

"But they seem to enjoy abusing it themselves?"

"That's what I've heard. Regardless of all that, I still think we should lend them a hand. I don't think they mean anyone in the Commonwealth any harm. But I know you want to get to Diamond City as soon as possible. Would you prefer we just keep going?" she asked.

"Well, I do want to get there quickly, but I know about you and your 'help out random strangers to the best of my ability' thing, so I doubt you'd be happy about leaving. So, I say let's do it." he said. This earned a smile from Judy.

"Really Nick, if you want us to keep going, we can. We don't have to help them if you don't want to." she said.

"And I told you, leaving would go against your better nature. What kind of friend would I be if I let you do that now, huh? Besides, I doubt the security will give us much trouble. We have a bear in power armor on our side. It shouldn't take all that long." She looked up at him again, still smiling.

"Thank you Nick. I really appreciate it."

"Don't mention it Carrots. Now can we head inside? The smell of all those things is about to make me gag." he said pointing over his shoulder to the ghouls lying on the ground.

"You canines and your noses. So sensitive." she joked.

* * *

They were only a few minutes outside of ArcJet now, the only resistance they ran into on the way being a few bloatflies with a death wish. Danse was leading the way, the helmet to his power armor now attached to his suit. They each followed closely behind, with Judy surveying their surroundings, listening for any sounds nearby. Nick on the other hand, was using the quiet time to reflect on things.

He of course thought about Concord, the events still plaguing his mind. When he was talking to Judy on the road he was able to set them aside, but now that she was quietly focussing on their surroundings, and Danse not being much for conversation, the thoughts crept back to him.

He was still struggling as to why he got the sense of euphoria that he did when he was engaged in battle. The best reason he could come up with was that he needed a vent. He had just had quite possibly the worst day of his life, and he had to find an outlet for all his anger. He still didn't have any real idea though.

_'I got the same feeling when we fought those feral ghouls. Maybe it's just the rush of the fight that I enjoy?'_ He hoped that's what it was, because any other reason was terrifying to him. Luckily, Danse spoke up, breaking Nick from his thoughts.

"Up ahead. ArcJet Systems." Danse said, pointing to the large three story building in the distance. The parking lot was empty, minus the rusted out cars, and there didn't appear to be anything outside. They moved up to the entrance.

"Alright, listen up." the bears said, turning to the two smaller mammals behind him. "We do this clean and quiet. No heroics, and by the book. Understood?"

"Understood." Judy said in very military fashion thanks to her Minutemen training. Nick just nodded, not being as serious about chain of command as she was.

"Outstanding. Remember, our primary target is the deep range transmitter. Each of you stay focused, and check your fire. I don't want to be hit by any stray bullets." Danse said, opening the front door and heading inside.

The inside of the building was a complete mess. Turns out two hundred year of neglect will do that to most things. Most of the ceiling tiles had collapsed onto the floor, and any windows inside were completely broken. The walls were rusted, some of them having very obvious holes in them. The building probably would've collapsed long ago, had it not been built to withstand punishment. It was responsible for testing rocket trusters for the government, at least that's what Nick heard back in the day. They probably made sure the facility was sturdy enough.

"It was corporations like this that put the last nail in the coffin for us in the past. They exploited technology for their own gains, pocketing the cash, and ignoring the damage they'd done." Danse stated.

Nick couldn't disagree with him. There were some really shady companies operating before the war. There was always a new rumor about ties with communist China, or about dumping hazardous materials in rivers and lakes, but most mammals didn't seem to care that much. They seemed to think the rumors were just started by rival companies, trying to take out the competition. Nick had thought like that too, but he could see all of that happening now.

Moving into the next room, they found several protectrons, a common security robot before the war, lying broken on the ground.

"Look at these wrecks. It appears as though the facility's automated security's already been dealt with." Danse said.

"Less security is good. It'll be less of a hassle getting the transmitter." Nick said. Danse didn't look so thrilled though.

"There's nothing good about this." he said, scanning the broken robots. "Look at the evidence. There isn't a single spent ammunition casing, or drop of blood in sight. These robots were assaulted by Institute synths."

"Whoa, back up a bit." Nick said. "Institute? Synths? What is any of that supposed to mean?"

"They're a group of scientist who went underground before the Great War started. Spent the last few decades littering the Commonwealth with synths, machines designed to mimic a normal mammal flawlessly." Danse said.

"I'll uh, be on the lookout then." Nick said. This was some very new information, and he was having trouble grasping exactly what it meant.

They moved further into the building, going trough various corridors and offices in an attempt to get to the launch observation room, which was somewhere in the basement. Danse believed the transmitter was located there, but it was deep inside the facility. It got darker the deeper they went, but Nick didn't need to worry about that, and Danse had a headlamp on his power armor to help both himself and Judy.

There was what looked to be some kind of lab further ahead, but it was blocked off by a locked door, only openable via terminal. Nick and Judy began to climb on top of the desk where the terminal was located to try and hack it, while Danse looked through one of the side rooms. Nick figured this would be a good time to get some answers on Institute.

"So, have you heard of the Institute?" he asked as they reached the terminal

"Yeah, they're kind of a boogeyman around here. They have a history of abducting mammals, and replacing them with synths."

"Wait, replace them? That seems like it'd be pretty easy to notice." Nick said.

"That's the thing. Synths are so advanced you can't tell the difference on the outside. They're able to eat, sleep, bleed, and do everything else a mammal does. Folks in Diamond City are pretty paranoid about them, thanks to a little incident several decades ago."

"What happened?" Nick asked.

"Apparently some guy, a fox or a wolf, something like that, came into town one day. He was there to trade, and seemed friendly by what I've been told. Then he went crazy, shot and killed a few mammals right in the center of town. When the guards took him down, they found out he was a synth. Ever since, we've been a bit cautious around outsiders."

"You didn't seem very cautious around me." he said, smirking.

"Well you saved my life Slick, so I thought you probably meant me no harm. Also, we weren't exactly in the city, so we were all technically outsiders." she said, returning his smirk.

"Right. So why don't you guys do something about them?"

"Well for starters, we have no idea where the Institute even is. We always thought it was in the old CIT ruins, but that place is completely empty. And we can't just interrogate every mammal that comes to town to find out if there a synth. It's completely undetectable. Some people don't even believe they exist." she said.

"Do you?" he asked.

"I… really don't know. I've never seen one, but at the same time, there's so much unexplainable stuff happening in the Commonwealth. Someone has to be responsible for it."

"Do… do you think they might've taken Shaun?" he asked, lowering his head. The idea that this shadowy organization took his son from him was not a comforting thought.

"Hey." she said softly. He raised his head to look at her. "I don't know who took your son, but I do know that we're going to find out who did. If the Institute took him, we'll find them too." He smiled, happy to know that someone would be there to help him. "Now, let's take a look at this terminal shall we?" she asked.

"Oh boy. This should be good." he said with a grin, remembering her attempt at hacking the terminal back in the museum.

"Harr harr, like you could do any better."

"Is that a challenge?" he said, his grin growing. He moved to type on the keyboard.

"You said you weren't good with computers. I doubt you could..."

"Got it." he said, turing to her with the widest grin he could muster. She moved him aside, nose twitching as she inspected the terminal.

_'Oh man that's so cute.'_ he thought.

"Okay really, why the hell did that museum have so much security!?" she yelled, her nose still twitching.

"Beats me Fluff. Hey Danse! We got the terminal in here open!" Nick yelled.

"Outstanding!" he heard from the other room, and the bear soon walked back into view. Nick looked through the terminal, and activated the 'open lab door' tab.

The door opened to reveal two bipedal creatures inside, appearing to be inspecting some equipment.

" **Hostile sensor reading detected."** one of them said with a heavily computerized voice.

The metallic creatures turned to look at the group of mammals, and one quickly picked up what looked like some type of baton, while the other grabbed a strange laser rifle.

"Synths! Open fire!" Danse yelled, firing several shots of his rifle directly into one of the robots. Nick and Judy jumped off of the desk to find cover as the other synth fired the blue lasers at them. They each pulled out their pistols, and peeked out from the side of the desk, firing at the other synth.

And Nick was feeling it again.

The rush.

_'Don't think about that right now. Focus on surviving.'_ he told himself. The synths were able to take several more hits than any real mammal ever could, but eventually they each fell to the floor, with parts of their inner workings displayed thanks to the gunshots.

"Those... are the synths you were talking about? They don't... look like normal mammals to me." Nick said through heavy breaths.

They definitely had the shape of a canine. The head, the body, even the tail looked to be that kind of shape, but the comparisons stopped there. Instead of fur, they had some type of white, hardened material covering their bodies, almost like skin. Their eyes were just metal balls with a yellow light in the center, which was dimming due to the synths recent 'deactivation.' It was very obvious that these were just machines.

"These are some of the older model synths, not yet perfect replicas of living beings." Danse said. "These ones are all shaped like canines, but the more advance ones can appear to be any sized mammal. If they're here, then the Institute is likely trying to acquire the transmitter. We need to get moving."

* * *

They moved through the building, winding through the paths that sent them towards the basement. Several groups of synths tried to ambush them as they entered new rooms, but they proved to be no threat thanks to Danse charging forward, his power armor taking the majority of the hits, allowing Nick and Judy to fire upon the metallic mammals. Some of the building's automated security turrets were still active as well, but they proved to be even less of a threat than the synths.

They soon reached the launch testing chamber, a large, nearly four story room that held a rocket engine on the ceiling. They needed to take an elevator to get up to the observation room, but the power was out, forcing them to head down the stairs into the launch control center at the bottom of the chamber to try and activate the power. Nick and Judy went inside to start the power, while Danse kept watch out in the testing chamber.

"So, you want to give this one a shot Carrots?" Nick asked, eyeing the locked terminal in front of the generator.

"Oh you'd just love that wouldn't you? I'd like to see you try this one." she said in a mocking tone. He had hoped he could get through this one just as easily, but after three attempts, finally admitted defeat.

"Alright, you got me Hopps. That last one was just a fluke. You're clearly superior to me." he said in his own sarcastic tone.

"And don't you forget it." she said, obviously very pleased with herself. She moved him aside and was able to activate the power, turning on several lights in the building.

"Contacts!" they heard Danse yell from inside the testing chamber. They rushed to the observation window to synths dropping from the scaffolding above, charging at him with batons and firing their laser rifles.

There had to be at least twenty of those things out there, and more were dropping down. They had no way of getting out of there. They were trapped.

That was until Judy sealed the launch doors, after allowing Danse to retreat into the control room. Seeing that they couldn't get in through the door, the synths began firing at the observation window, there shots having little effect on such strong glass.

"Now what? Wait for them to run out of ammo, then make a run for it?" Nick asked.

"No. We fire up that rocket." Judy said, as she ran over to the control consoles, and pressed the launch button. After a short countdown from a computerized voice, the engine's flame ignited. It burned for several seconds, melting down all the synths into nothing but ashes by the time it finished.

"That's some damn fine thinking soldier." Danse said, looking at Judy. "I would've never thought to use this facilities testing measures to our advantage."

"I've been in a similar situation before. The idea just kind of came to me." she replied.

_'What kind of situation is even remotely similar to this one? She really is one crazy bunny.'_ Nick thought.

They moved back upstairs, ignoring the ashes created by the powerful flames. They piled inside the elevator, moving up to the top floor. Inside the observation room, there were several more synths waiting for them, but by now the group of mammals had fighting these machines down to a science. Have Danse charge forward, taking the bulk of the attack, while Nick and Judy fired from behind, taking down the distracted synths. After they were taken care of, Danse was able to find the device in question.

"Alright, we've got the transmitter. Looks like there's an escape elevator here we can take to the surface. Let's get moving." the bear said. After a short elevator ride, they entered a small bunker at the back of the facility, and exited into the outside world.

Nick was a bit worried to find the sun as low as it was. His pip-boy told him it was now around five, but the sun was surprisingly low for this time of day. They would need to hurry if they wanted to make it to Diamond City before nightfall.

"Well, that could've gone smoother, but mission accomplished." Danse said.

"It certainly could've." Nick said. "We were in there a lot longer than I would've hoped."

"I didn't anticipate encountering synths on this mission, so it certainly took longer than expected. Still, it's a refreshing change to work with civilians who know how to follow orders properly." he said, looking mostly at Judy. "That being said, I believe we have some important matters do discuss."

_'What now? We really need to get going.'_ Nick thought.

"We had a lot thrown at us back there." Danse began. "Our op could've ended in disaster, but you both kept your cool and handled it like soldiers. There's no doubt in my mind that you each have what it takes. The way I see it, you have two options. You could keep wandering from place to place, trading an extra pair of paws for a meager reward. Or, you two could join the Brotherhood of Steel, and make your marks on the world. So, what do you say?"

Nick knew exactly what his answer was. He needed to find his son above all else. He didn't have time to play soldier with these mammals. He also doubted Judy would abandon the Minutemen for these guys, so he had to let Danse down.

"I don't think..." he began, before being interrupted by Judy.

"As honored as we would be to join, Paladin, we simply can't accept your offer. We have urgent business that we need to attend to as soon as possible." she said, taking a quick glance at Nick.

"I see." Danse said. "Well then, best of luck to both of you. The offer will still remain on the table should either of you change your minds. Regardless of all that, the Brotherhood believes in repaying it's debts. You both saved my squad, and helped complete our mission. As far as I'm concerned, the Brotherhood owes you each two favors. One of those I think I can help you with, if you'll follow me back to the police station."

"Alright Danse. Lead the way." Nick said.

As they began to walk, Nick eyed the skyline, with shades of orange beginning to appear on the horizon.

They needed to get moving. Fast.


	12. Great Green Jewel

_**Zootopia is property of Disney.** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda.** _

* * *

Nick gave a worried glance up to the sky, the sun having disappeared behind the buildings around them long ago. It was mostly dark now, with the sun likely being just on the horizon now. Light of course wasn't a problem for him, but it would be for Judy. He also had no idea what kinds of monsters came out at night, and he didn't want to find out personally.

They were now properly in Boston, having just crossed the Charles river. Nick could see Fenway's lights shining from here, so they would likely arrive in just a few minutes. The streets were mostly populated by old cars, from the tall giraffe models in the center, to the tiny mouse models in rodent lanes. The buildings around them were for the most part still standing, but appeared extremely run down none the less.

They hadn't run into any real threats since they left the police station, so they hadn't yet had the chance to test out their new toys, courtesy of the Brotherhood. Danse had given them each a new weapon, as well enough ammo for each, saying it would make up for one of the favors he owed them. Nick received a laser rifle at just the right size for him to comfortably hold, while Judy received a laser pistol, replacing her old pipe one. Danse had claimed that although they had to be modified to fit into their small paws, they still packed more than enough of a punch to take down the common raider or ghoul. They said their goodbyes, with the Paladin reminding them that if they ever needed another favor, the Brotherhood owed them.

Nick adjusted his backpack, his new rifle currently being held in his left hand. He would need to find some kind of strap in Diamond City so he could throw the thing over his shoulder if he didn't want to carry it. He would also need to find a holster for his pistol, as having it rest in his right pocket wouldn't do for long. Judy on the other hand already had a holster for her shotgun, letting it rest behind her waist. Her new pistol wouldn't fit in her old pistol holster though, so she had to hold it the whole way there. She too would have to get a new holster.

 _'That was one hell of a detour. We should've arrived over an hour ago.'_ Nick thought. He couldn't really complain, as he now could now better defend himself. Still, time was of the essence, and he need to get there as soon as possible.

"So," Nick began, as Judy turned to look at him. "What's Diamond City like? Like, Where do you guys even stay?" He had been wondering about this since she told him about the place. There wasn't a whole lot of space on the inside of the park, minus the field of course, so he'd been curious about their living arrangements. Did they stay in the press boxes? The basements? The dugouts? He wanted to find out.

"You can see for yourself when we get there." she said turning away from him.

"Oh c'mon Carrots, not even a little hint?" he said, squeezing the tips of his fingers close together

"I want to keep it a surprise. It's always fun seeing someones first look at the city."

"Okay, how about you just tell me about where _you_ live? That wouldn't spoil the whole thing would it?" he asked. She huffed in response, and turned back to face him.

"Fine Slick, I'll give you a little info. My family's house is out in center field, where we keep the farm. It's not the biggest house in the city, but it has enough room for all nine of us, so we make do. It helps that we make good caps running the farm. Most of the city is prey, and they have to eat somehow."

"So are you guys like, the rich snobs of the city? Looking down on everyone else?" he asked with a grin. She scoffed at him.

"I said good caps, not great. We're farmers for crying out loud." she said. "The snobs live in the upper stands, just to the right as you go in. I'd avoid that place if you don't want to be told how inadequate you are."

"Huh. I guess some things never change." The super rich had always looked down on the poorer residents of Boston back in the day. There were a few good ones of course, but the majority were just downright terrible mammals.

They continued up the street, staying on alert so that nothing could ambush them from one of the alleys or side streets. They soon came upon an elephant in what look like some improvised armor made out of catcher's padding, patrolling one of the streets near the city. Judy seemed to perk up a bit upon seeing them, and hurried forward.

"Hey, Francine!" she yelled. The elephant turned towards them, appearing to ease up.

"Well, if it isn't the most determined bunny in all of Diamond City. Good to see you again, Judy." she eyed Nick with a quizzical expression. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Nick. Nick, this is Francine. She's pretty much the meanest guard in town, always trying to spoil the fun when I was a kid." she said with a slight mock in her voice.

"You always knew you weren't supposed to climb the wall. Don't blame me for doing my job. So why'd you decide to come home now? Finally given up on the Minutemen?" she asked.

"Nope. Just doing a favor for Nick. He saved my life, so I agreed to help him out for a bit. The rest of the Minutemen are up near Concord, and we're gonna start rebuilding soon." Judy said.

"Rebuilding, eh? Can't do any worse than the last Minutemen I guess. Is Ben still with you guys?"

"Yep, he's still doing fine. As cheery as ever." she said with a laugh.

"Good to know. Tell him to come back home someday. He's a good kid. Anyway, good luck getting inside. The mayor's trying keep Piper out of the city, and she's been banging on the front gate for around half an hour now." the elephant said.

"Did she write another article that pissed him off?" Judy asked, causing Nick to wonder what they were talking about.

"Ha, you know it. This time she outright suggested that he could be a synth. Got the whole city riled up." she replied.

"Well, I can see why he's upset. I'll go see if I can't convince Sullivan to open the gate for us." Judy said, as she started to move forward. Nick quickly followed.

"I doubt he can keep it closed for much longer. Good luck in there! You too, foxy!" Francine said, waving to them as she returned to her patrols. Judy returned the wave, and they walked up the street leading to the front gate. There was a surprising amount of security outside the city, with guards in the same catcher's pad armor scattered all over, along with the occasional automated turret.

 _'They're pretty serious about security here. Suppose they've had a lot of time to figure out what they needed to stay safe.'_ Nick thought.

As they approached the front gate, he saw a vixen in a red leather trench coat and a some kind of press cap yelling into a speaker next to the entrance.

"You open this gate right now Danny Sullivan! I live here. You can't just lock me out." she said, while no response came from the speaker. She sighed, turning around to notice the two mammals standing behind her.

"Judy?" the vixen said, a smile appearing on her muzzle. "Thank God you're back. Can you convince that idiot elk to open up? Lionheart doesn't seem to want me inside the city anymore." she said, before giving Nick a quick glance up and down.

"Poor Piper, always getting into trouble." she mocked. "Let me see what I can do." She moved up to the speaker, and activated the microphone.

"Danny, it's Judy Hopps. I know you don't want to let Piper in, but you and I both know you can't keep this gate closed forever. Eventually someone's going to want out, or a trader is going to want in, and I don't think you want to be the one talking to crazy Myrna about losing out on a months worth of supplies."

" **Geez, alright. No need to make it personal, Judy. Just give me a minute."** the voice on the other side said. After a few seconds, the motors above them began to churn, and the gate lifted, revealing a lion standing just beyond the turnstile gates, his suit surprisingly well maintained after two centuries.

"Piper!" the lion yelled. "Who let you back inside? I told Sullivan to keep that gate shut!"

"Sorry Mr. Lionheart, but I've got to look out for old friends now, don't I?" Judy said a bit sheepishly.

"Ms. Hopps. I didn't think you'd be returning after that incident in Quincy. Welcome back." he said, before turning his attention back to Piper. "I should have that printer scrapped for parts after that stunt you pulled!" The vixen was surprisingly unfazed by the lions size and intimating stature.

"Oooh, that a statement Lionheart? 'Tyrant mayor shuts down the press?' Is that the kind of headline you want?" she said, causing the lion to ease off a little. "I know where Judy stands on this, but what about the newcomer?" she said, pointing and turning to Nick. "Do you support the news? 'Cause the mayor's threatening to throw free speech in the dumpster."

"Hey, I've always believed in freedom of the press." Nick said. Free speech was always one of the most important aspects of civilization to him before the war. Although other mammals used that right to put him down constantly, he still never doubted the importance of it.

"Oh, I didn't mean to bring you into this argument, sir." the lion said, readjusting his tie. "No no no, _you_ look like Diamond City material."

_'If this guy's about to start a sales pitch…'_

"Welcome to the great green jewel of the Commonwealth!" the lion said, interrupting his thoughts. "Safe. Happy. A fine place to come, spend your money, settle down."

_'Fantastic. Might as well humor him for a bit.'_

"Oh that sounds great! I've heard so many good things about the place, I just had to come see it for myself!" he said, trying his best to sound genuine.

"I'm sure we'll have whatever you're looking for here, Mr…?" the lion asked.

"Wilde, Nick Wilde. And I'm sure I will too Mr. Lionheart." he said with a big grin.

"Well Mr. Wilde, please do enjoy your stay." He quickly turned back to Piper, immediately losing the cheeriness he'd just had.

"I've had enough of this, Piper. From now on, consider you and that little sister of yours on notice." he said, before turning around, heading through the entrance.

"Yeah, keep talkin' Lionheart. That's all you're good for." she replied. He gave a 'hmph' in response, before he was quickly out of sight.

"So, does he always put on that sales pitch whenever someone new comes to town?" Nick asked, now willing to talk freely.

"Only to those he thinks he can easily manipulate." Piper said. "Or to fresh faced vault dwellers who're looking for someplace safe." she continued, eyeing his jumpsuit. "You wanna tell me why you came back home with a fox in a vault suit?" she said, now facing Judy.

"That is a very long story, and I would gladly tell you all about it, but we have some urgent business to attend to. We'll catch up later, Piper."

"Sure thing Jude." she began to walk towards the entrance, but stopped and face Nick. "Oh, and… Nick was it?" He nodded. "If you really are from a vault, stop by my office later. I have an idea for an article you'd be perfect for." she said, before walking through the entrance. Now that it was just him and Judy, he decided to speak up.

"Well then. That was certainly something." Nick said, turning to her.

"Was it now? Did you like what you saw in my friend there? Gonna ask her out or something?" she teased.

"In your dreams Carrots. I _would_ like to know why you didn't tell me I wasn't your only fox friend. I feel a little insulted." he said, faking disgust.

"Is someone _jealous_?" she asked with a chuckle.

"You're not very good at picking up on sarcasm are you?" he said dryly.

"Evidently not. Let's get inside. I wish I had a working camera ready."

* * *

She _really_ wished she had a working camera ready. When they walked inside, Nick was obviously trying to keep a neutral expression. When he got a glimpse at the city though, his jaw dropped. He just stared in silence, taking in everything from the upper stands to the right, to the power noodles stand at the center of the city, to the Wall off in left field.

 _'Not so slick now, are you?'_ she thought.

"So, what do you think?" she asked, barely breaking him from his trance.

"It's… incredible. I mean, everything's made from scrapped metal and there's loose wires hanging everywhere, but… wow." he said.

They continued down to the field, just passing the home plate. She'd wanted to show him the various venders inside the city, but thanks to there little delay with the Brotherhood, they were now all closed.

_'Oh well. Better that we get straight to it.'_

They started to go left, heading in between second and third base, which was where Valentine Detective Agency was located. As they reached the front door, Judy stopped.

"Hey, you okay fluff?" Nick asked, his paw reaching for the door handle.

"Yeah, It's just..." she said, cutting herself off.

 _'I really need to see my family.'_ she thought _._ She really wanted to help Nick, but her family were mere meters away now, and she wanted to make sure they knew she was okay. Nick rolled his eyes at her.

"If you want to see your folks so badly, go ahead. I'll get things started in here." he said.

"You sure?" she asked, not wanting to be a burden.

"Yes, you dumb bunny I'm sure." he said with a laugh. "Now go on, get it out of your system. I'll be here when you're done." She smiled at him, and quickly turned around, running straight for center field.

When she reached second base, she looked out into the fields, trying to find any sign of her family. She eyed two bunnies, who she quickly recognized as her parents. She was surprised to see something in her mothers arms though.

A baby bunny, wrapped up tight in blanket.

A new sibling.

A new member of the family.

"Mom! Dad!" she yelled, and began to run towards them. The two older rabbits turned to face her, their eyes practically popping out of their skulls.

"Judy? Judy!" they each said, and began running towards her. The met in the middle, wrapping their arms tightly around each other, but not too tight, being mindful of the small infant.

"Oh thank heavens you're okay!" her mother said, increasing her grasp on her daughter.

"Where have you been all this time?" he father asked, loosening up his hug.

"Guys, guys. I'm fine. I was just working. You should know by now how cautious I am outside the wall." Judy said, releasing them from their hug.

"We do hon, but you were gone for three months! We never heard a word from you!" her mom said, with worry still in her voice.

"I know. Things got… complicated. But I'm fine now." She turned her attention down to the baby, a huge smile appearing on her face. "When did this happen?"

"Oh, a little after your last visit. Lucky for us it's only David this time. We're gonna need to start up a new addition to the ol' house soon."

David. Her brother's name was David.

She was one of the oldest in her family, and never got tired of seeing new siblings. It had only happened a few times of course, but she treasured each one.

"Oh, you guys!" she said, tears filling her eyes. They brought her in for another hug.

She was safe now.

She was home.

With her family.

And her new friend.

"Carrots!" she heard behind her. She loosened her hug, so see Nick standing behind them, with a worried look on his muzzle.

"We've got a problem."


	13. The Wall

_**Special thanks to sarcasmIsOurStrength for the help with this chapter.** _

_**Zootopia is property of Disney** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda** _

* * *

"Valentine's missing?" Judy said, now speaking to the agency's secretary, Ellie. If he was missing, that made any chances of finding Nick's son next to zero.

She'd immediately went with Nick to hear firsthand what was going on, earning some questionable stares from her parents. She would explain everything to them later. For now, they needed to find that detective.

"Unfortunately, yes." Ellie replied. The squirrel was currently climbing all around the agency's office, trying to find any relevant files to where Valentine might have gone. "Normally, I wouldn't be concerned. He can be away for quite some time on certain jobs, but for this one it just doesn't make sense. Tracking down a runaway daughter should be easy for him, take a couple of days max. But he's been gone for over a week now, and I haven't heard anything from him."

"Do you know where he was going?" Nick said. The squirrel hopped down from one of the large filing cabinets, holding a folder much larger than herself. She handed the folder to Judy, who placed it down on the front desk. Ellie then climbed up onto the desk, opening the folder, and investigated the files inside.

"According to this, his first lead was over in Goodneighbor. A group of Triggermen by the looks of it." Ellie said, still skimming over the files.

"Triggermen? Like gangsters?" Nick asked.

"Pretty much." Judy said. "They're mostly made of up ghouls, probably longing for the glory days. You do occasionally see a few normal mammals though." Her squad had clashed with a few of them in the past, and while it luckily never ended with bloodshed, the gangsters made it very clear they didn't want any competition moving in on their turf. It didn't matter that the 'competition.' was just a group of Minutemen, who would most likely be willing to protect them as long as they stayed out of trouble.

"Based on the MO of these guys, I think they might have something to do with Nick's disappearance." the squirrel said.

"What makes you say that?" Judy asked.

"They have a history of having any mammals who interferes with their business, 'taken care of.' I know that Nick would've been careful, but these guys are still dangerous." Judy didn't doubt that. They pretty much had the chem market corned everywhere except Diamond City. They enjoyed that steady income of caps, and wouldn't willingly give it up.

"So, what's the plan?" Judy asked. "We gonna head over to Goodneighbor?" Ellie jumped off the desk, moving towards the small coat rack near the door.

"No, Judy. _I'm_ gonna head over to Goodneighbor." she said, pointing a thumb at herself. "From what your fox friend here tells me, you guys have been traveling all day. I think you guys deserve a bit of rest. I'll be fine on my own." The squirrel grabbed a coat, as well as a modified pipe pistol that was just in her size.

"Ellie, that's ridiculous. Cheese and crackers, you're a squirrel, not the most intimidating thing out there." Judy said. "It's dangerous, and it's night! You'll get chewed up..."

"Is the bunny who happens to be a Minuteman, about to scold me on going outside the Wall?" she said with a smirk. "This isn't my first trip to Goodneighbor, not even during the dark, and I doubt it'll be my last. You don't work for Valentine as long as I have without learning a few tricks. You two stay in town, get some rest. Hopefully I'll be back sometime tomorrow with a bit more information."

 _'Yeah. Hopefully.'_ Judy thought. She knew Ellie could handle herself, but she was still nervous about leaving her unprotected. They all went out into the street. Ellie locked up the agency, saying goodbye, and leaving Nick and Judy standing there.

"So." Nick began. "Sorry about breaking up that tender moment back there Carrots, but you can see I had my reasons."

"Indeed I can." she said. "Why don't you make it up to me by letting me introduce a certain dumb fox to my family?" she said with a growing smirk.

"Sure thing. Now where'd that guy run off too?" he said, jokingly scanning the streets. She just rolled her eyes at him.

* * *

Judy's family had been nice enough. They'd invited Nick into their home for dinner, a small thank you for bringing their daughter home to them. They only had fruits and vegetable, what with being rabbits and all, and they said that the local meat shop was closed for the night. He still enjoyed the meal, and Judy had not been lying about those mutfruits. The one he tried back in Sanctuary really didn't hold a candle to these ones.

He'd told them about his son, as well as where he came from. Her parents were very sympathetic about it, having children themselves. They still didn't fully believe him about being over two hundred years old, despite Judy's insistence. Her siblings though seemed to hang on his every word, as he told stories about life before the war, and other various things. The younger ones just stared wide eyed at him, while the older ones actually had some questions, which he answered to the best of his ability.

Judy had offered to let Nick stay the night in their house, but judging by the size of it, he wouldn't have had much room to sleep, and likely wouldn't even have a sleeping bag. Her parents reconciled this by offering to rent a room for him at the Dugout Inn, which was, as the name suggested, in the home team's dugout.

He'd talked to the polar bears inside who ran the place, and got himself one of the rooms available. It wasn't much, a lone mattress on the floor and a lamp on a nightstand made up most of the room. He was a bit tired, but decided to chat with some of the locals before he went to bed. Most of them however wouldn't even reply to him, with some just straight up telling him to buzz off. The only mammals who were willing to talk to him was the bartender, Vadim, and some kind of mercenary, a timber wolf named Hawthorne. Nick was a bit nervous around him at first, after hearing what mercenaries did to Quincy. Soon though he discovered that Hawthorne actually had a good set of morals. He didn't just take any old job, he made sure nobody innocent would be hurt by it first. He mostly specialized in guarding caravans, searching through old ruins, and sniffing out other mammals. He claimed his nose was the most powerful in the Commonwealth, able to track things for miles at a time. After around a long while chatting with the two, Nick checked the time on his pip-boy. 10PM. Not the latest time of day certainly, but after walking for hours, as well as fighting those synths, he was exhausted.

Yet despite this, sleep eluded him.

 _'Come on, brain. Fall asleep, just for me, would ya?'_ He thought to himself. It wouldn't allow it, forcing him to remember the state of the world, the status of his son, as well as the feeling he got when he was in a fight. He didn't want to think about that stuff right now, he just wanted his rest. After tossing and turning in bed for an hour, he finally gave up.

 _'Might as well take a walk. Just need something to pass the time.'_ He went out of his room, locking the door behind him. The only other mammal who had another key was the other polar bear, Yefim, and he didn't seem like the type to shift through his customer's belongings.

He walked around Diamond City, taking a better look at things than before. He wasn't lying earlier when he told Judy the place was incredible. Yes it looked like the kind of thing homeless mammals would've built if they had the time and resources back in the day, but he'd be damned if it still wasn't amazing.

The buildings he could understand. They'd had years to build those up, making sure they're structurally sound. He could understand the weird stage in left field, probably some kind of meeting place for the town. What he was most surprised about was the fact that the entire right field was completely underwater. He expected them to have some kind of clean water source in the city, but he didn't expect _that._

After walking around the city several times over, he still wasn't any closer to falling asleep. Back when he was a kid, he'd head up to the roof of the building he lived in when he couldn't sleep, and just watch the city. The tallest structure they'd built in Diamond City was the big smoke stack at the center of the town, and he doubted he could climb that.

Earlier in the day though, a certain bunny got scolded for climbing a certain wall.

And Nick could guess which wall that was.

* * *

Despite all of her traveling that day, Judy wasn't really tired.

She was still ready to get out there, help Ellie find Valentine, then help Nick find Shaun. She was very aware that all this energy in her would likely be gone in less than an hour, so she decided to kill a little time.

At first, she just laid out her family's fields, watching the moon and the stars as she thought over the days events. She was glad that Nick had hit it off so well with her family. They seemed to actually enjoy his company, her siblings especially. He would've stayed at their house, if they'd had another bed available, so instead he stayed at the Dugout Inn.

She was concerned about Valentine. They'd only spoken a few times directly, but she knew that he was a good guy, judging by the fame he'd gained within the city. She hoped that Ellie would be okay. Goodneighbor wasn't exactly the most friendly settlement in the Commonwealth.

Soon, she'd seen enough of just the night sky. She wanted to get a nice view of the city as well. She knew just the right spot for this of course. She hadn't climbed it in a few years, but figured now would be a good time.

She got up, and made her way towards the Wall.

* * *

 _'This is definitely the spot to be.'_ Nick thought. The moon and the stars were shining bright up ahead, and the city was lit down below them. He didn't think climbing to the top of the green monster was something he'd ever do, but here he was.

It was a fairly darker up here than it was down in the city. Not all of the lights reached the spot Nick was in, sitting in one of the seats in the front row. They also dimmed the lights a bit so mammals could sleep better, but the town was still lit up more than enough.

This was exactly what he needed. No worries, no raiders, no monsters. Just relaxing under the night sky, with a cool breeze blowing through his fur.

Until he heard some grunting to his right, coming from over the wall.

 _'Someone's climbing up here.'_ He looked around for any escape route. He didn't really have anywhere he could go, so he just froze, hoping it wasn't one of the guards.

Then he saw a pair of black tipped bunny ears come over the edge, soon followed by a grey paw. He sighed internally, not wanting to reveal himself just yet.

Soon she was completely over the edge. He noticed she had changed out of her Minuteman uniform, now wearing a pink flannel shirt and some old blue jeans. She looked nice in casual clothes, appearing more at ease. She quickly turned around, looking at the view of the city. It seemed as though she hadn't yet seen him. Or heard him somehow.

"I don't think you're allowed up here miss." Nick said. Judy jumped at the sound, turning towards him with a light squeal.

 _'That was the most adorable sound I've ever heard.'_ He thought.

"Nick!" she yelled, before putting her paws over her mouth. "Nick!" she said again, but much more quietly. "What are you doing up here?"

"I could ask you the same question." he whispered, trying to stay as quiet as Judy was. "The short version is I couldn't sleep. Then I remembered what that elephant said earlier about you climbing the wall, so I thought I'd give it a shot."

"Well, you know how to relax then. I doubt there's a view like this in all of the Commonwealth." she said, taking in the view of the city. "What do you think?" she asked, taking the seat to his right.

"It's certainly something alright. My dad took me here to watch a few games. Never got a seat up here though."

"You've seen mammals play baseball here? What's that like?" she asked, turning towards him.

"It was a hell of an atmosphere I'll tell you that much. Mammals filling up all these seats, watching the guys down there slug those things out of the park. It could get pretty crazy." he said.

"I can imagine. Did you like baseball back then?"

"I mean it was okay. I always got a bit bored after a few innings, but my dad was crazy about it. He caught every game the Sox played.

"Hmm." she replied. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but what was he like? Your dad, I mean."

The question caught him a bit off guard. He didn't really mind telling her, as he'd already opened up a lot about himself to her, but it depressed him to think more about his parents.

"He was a bit of an oddball. Had a weird thing for wearing suits, even though he worked in construction of all things. He never drank alcohol, unless it was an ale, don't ask me why. He also had this insanely loud laugh, like it got the attention of anyone within a mile radius. Always embarrassed the hell out of me when he did it." He paused, recalling one memory where his dad was forced to leave in the middle of a school assembly due to his loudness. He let out a small laugh at the thought. "He was a character, that's for sure."

"Sounds like it." she said. "What about your mom?"

"Heh, she was just about the nicest thing on the planet. Was never able to speak badly about anyone, even my dad. Real smart too, she got a few offers from the CIT."

"Really? Did she accept them?" she asked. He let out a soft sigh.

"No. She met my dad around then. They met up at a bar one night, had a few too many ales in them, and presto, I was brought into the world. She didn't have the money for college after that."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." she said. He turned to her with a light smirk.

"Gee, Carrots. You're sorry I was ever born? That makes me feel better." he said. She gave him a light slap on the shoulder.

"You know what I mean. Dumb fox." She turned her attention to the night sky, before he spoke again."

"I guess knocking up a girl on accident must run in the family or something, 'cause that's almost exactly how Shaun was born. Clare never exactly got any offers from CIT though."

"Was she his mother?" she asked, and he nodded in response. "How did you two meet?"

"We met during one of my cons. Me and Finnick were acting the part of travel agents, trying to book mammals a nice little vacation to some island up in Maine. She saw through the whole thing, but we stayed in contact. It wasn't a very serious relationship, we kind of just screwed around with each other. But then came a night with a few too many drinks, and we got Shaun." Judy stayed silent for a brief moment, then spoke up.

"You said she left you right?" Again, he nodded. "I'm sorry. Was it sudden?"

He was starting to get angry, not at Judy, but more at the thoughts of Clare. He did his best to calm himself down so he could give her a straight answer.

"Yeah, it was. We'd been trying to make things work between us throughout the pregnancy. Things seemed to be going fine. Shaun was born, we all moved into my apartment, things were nice." He paused for what felt like an eternity. "Then she left. I tried to find her, see if we could work things out. I never found a trace. That was probably the major factor on why I decided to move to Sanctuary. I mean, both my parents were there for me but still I…" he said with a slight crack in his voice. He took a moment to contain himself. "I didn't want Shaun growing up thinking he was just an accident."

Judy was looking at him with a concerned expression, and moved a bit closer to him. She place her paw on his right forearm.

"Hey, there's no way your parents though of you as an accident. By the sound of things, they seemed to love you a lot." she said, softly sliding her paw down his forearm, stopping just above his wrist. This was actually comforting to him. She actually sounded genuine, and seemed to care very much about what he thought.

As nice as this was, it was getting a bit too mushy feely for Nick. He readjusted himself in his seat, trying quickly to change the tone of everything. He put his hand up to his ear, and started imitating the old baseball announcers.

"It's the bottom of the eighth, let's go to Steve Pawson up in the Mass Fusion blimp for a look at the crowd tonight. How's everything looking from up there Steve?" Judy let out a light sigh.

"Nick, really, I'm glad you told me." she said, still looking at him. He took a quick glance at her.

"Thanks Carrots. I'm just not really one for… opening up like that." To his fortune, he actually let out a yawn. Hopefully now he could get some sleep.

"Well, as lovely as this has been, I think it's time to hit the hay. I wanna be up bright and early so I can get something to replace this vault-suit." he said, getting up and heading towards the ledge they climbed up from.

"You want me to take you to Fallon's Basement? You're sure to find something in your size there."

"Sure thing. I'll see you around like, seven?" he asked.

"Stores don't open until eight, but I guess you could come over and grab some breakfast if you wanted." she said, smiling.

"If it's as good as your mom's dinner, I'll be sure to come." he said, beginning to descend down the wall. He stopped just before his head passed the edge. "Goodnight, dumb bunny." he said with a smirk. She let out a chuckle, and responded with a genuine smile.

"Goodnight Nick."


	14. Story of the Century

_**Zootopia is property of Disney.** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda.** _

* * *

Nick was actually able to get a good night's rest after their talk on the Wall. He felt much more energized than he did the previous morning, leaving the Dugout Inn at around 7am.

He had breakfast with Judy's family, just like they'd planned the night before. He was a bit shocked when her mom handed him a plate full of scrambled eggs. He didn't expect for them to have any meat, since all the shops were still closed. Luckily her dad had gathered some radchicken eggs for him before he arrived, and they tasted divine. Certainly not like the eggs he knew back in the day, but they were still great regardless. He was surprised her mom even knew how to make eggs.

They all talked at breakfast, with her parents still having questions about his past, while her siblings wanted to hear some more stories. As the clock approach 8am, Nick and Judy excused themselves, hoping to get an early start on their day in Diamond City.

"So," Judy said as they exited her home, wearing the same flannel and jeans from last night. "You said you wanted to get some clothes first, right?"

"Yes please. This thing might be comfortable, but it definitely isn't for me." he said, putting his right paw on his chest.

"Alright, sounds good. Anything you wanted to do after that?" she asked

"Well, I was hoping to maybe get something so I wouldn't have to carry this thing all the time." he said, raising his laser rifle in his left hand.

"I'll probably have to get something new too. In that case, we'll head over to Commonwealth Weaponry after we're done. Arturo should be able to help us out."

"Lead the way then Carrots. I haven't had a good shopping spree in a while."

As they walked from her house into the center of town, Nick took in the view of the city, now bustling with life. Mammals of all sizes roamed the streets, talking to either each other, or to the various vendors. There was a pig dressed up in a baseball uniform, along with a bat, standing in front of a small shop. He was shouting something about 'swatters' whatever those were. An armadillo was at a stand with various weapons and ammunition on display. Nick guessed that this was Arturo. If not, he'd at least find out later. To the right of that, there was a doe standing outside what looked to be some kind of general goods shop. The deer looked to be scanning everyone that passed by, focusing a peculiarly long time on Nick. At the center of town, where the smokestack was, A protectron in a chef's hat appeared to be serving noodles, much to Nick's bewilderment. Behind that was a sloth standing in an open garage, talking to mammals about chems, albeit very slowly. To the right of them was a badger in a lab coat, with various pieces of medical equipment sitting on a desk behind him. A doctor obviously. Closer to the front gate was the butcher, judging by the hyena out front, cleaning off some kind of meat. Finally, two porcupines were operating what looked to be some kind of grooming station, each of them currently engaged in trimming Mayor Lionheart's mane.

 _'This place is certainly something.'_ Nick thought. Back before the war, it wasn't the most rare thing to see mammals of such varying sizes working so closely together, but it was never to this extent. Although most mammals tended to prefer the company of their own predatory classification, downtown Boston was a melting pot of all kinds of species. Even rodents had mixed in with everyone back then, though that was mostly due to the fact that the city didn't have a specific district for them. Boston was an old city, and by the time other places started making small districts for rodents, most of the area was already majorly developed. They still had a rodent specific transit system though, like most cities.

As Judy lead Nick to the stairs leading down to Fallon's Basement, he noticed that several mammals were eying him suspiciously. Although it could be the fact that he was wearing a vault-suit, he was more inclined to believe it was because he was a fox.

"Nice people you guys have here." he said, returning a glare at a coyote outside of the grooming station. Judy turned to see what he was looking at as they began to descend the stairs.

"Don't worry about them. The mammals here are pretty nervous around outsiders. They're probably just wondering if you're a synth, plus that suit makes you stand out quite a bit."

"I'm not worried. I'm used to a few stares by now." he said. He looked over to see Judy's ears droop slightly. He didn't mean to upset her, but he was just speaking the truth.

They entered the store, seeing mannequins of all sizes displaying various pieces of clothing, as well as several closets and tables against the back wall. A giraffe was standing behind the front counter, it's neck bent forward to prevent it's head from hitting the ceiling.

"How you doing today, Becky?" Judy said, sending a smile towards the giraffe.

"Ms. Hopps. Glad to see you back in town." she said, quickly eyeing Nick, raising an eyebrow at him. "Let me guess, you need some new clothes, right pal?"

"Did the jumpsuit give it away? I shouldn't be surprised." he said, earning a chuckle from Judy.

"Work your magic, Becky." she said. "We need Nick here to blend in."

* * *

Nick couldn't believe his luck in Fallon's. While the giraffe was finding some clothes in Nick's size, he'd been browsing the ties on the other side of the store. He found one that was almost exactly the same as the one he'd left back in the Vault. He was very pleased about this, being able to get back a small piece of his former life. When Becky brought him some shirts and pants though, he was astounded. There was a green hawaiian shirt, almost the same pattern as his old one, as well as a pair of pants that fit _perfectly_ with the rest of the outfit. All of the colors were a bit shaded due to the passage of time, but still the resemblance to his old wardrobe was striking.

Not that anyone outside of the city would get to see it. Judy had made the rather annoying, but certainly not unwise comment that his new clothes would give him no protection from bullets, the elements, or anything else. She'd recommended that he get something else to wear for when they leave the city, maybe even get a piece of armor as well. He'd decided on thick, brown leather trench coat, along with some basic road leathers to wear underneath, putting the total cost up to around 50 caps. He now had just under 100 left to spend at Commonwealth Weaponry.

There, he was able to find all of the things he needed. A piece of combat chest armor took up most of the cost, at around 60 additional caps. The sling for his rifle and holster for his pistol, Arturo was able to quickly throw together, along with one for Judy. Those luckily didn't cost nearly as much. He attached his rifle to the sling, and placed his new armor piece and holster in his backpack, along with what Judy called his 'wasteland' outfit.

"Alright, after all that, I now have about… 20 caps left to my name. Joy." Nick said dryly.

"Hey, at least you blend in now. I have to say, you look a lot better in that outfit. The pip-boy kind of ruins the whole 'wastelander' vibe we're going for, and the shirt's a little tacky, but there's nothing I can do about that." she said, causing him to shoot her a questionable stare.

"Excuse me? Tacky? I don't think you have any fashion sense Carrots." he said, looking down at his new shirt.

"I could say the same to you, Slick. What's the plan now?"

"Well, it's only a little over 9." he said, checking his pip-boy. "Didn't Piper ask for us to come to her office yesterday?"

"No, she asked you. But I'm sure she won't mind if I tag along. You want to head over her place now?" Judy asked.

"Yeah. Let's do it."

They moved towards the entrance of the city, stopping outside a building near the front staircase, It's sign read 'Publick Occurances.' A young fox, probably no older than eleven or twelve, stood on a box out front, trying to get mammals to read a new article.

"Hey Nat, is Piper inside?" Judy asked as they approached the building.

"Sure is. Is that the vault dweller she wanted to talk to?" she asked, looking at Nick.

"Yep. Rest assured that the article she writes about him's going to sell well."

"I hope so. Give us a good story mister!" she yelled as they opened the door inside. Piper was sitting in an armchair, writing something down on an old notepad, before she saw them out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey Judy! Glad you dropped by." Piper said, before she turned her attention to Nick. "How you holdin' up Blue?" He put on a confused face.

"Uh, I'm sorry… Blue?" he asked.

"Yeah, Blue. You know, like the Vaults. I know you're not wearing the jumpsuit anymore, but the pip-boy and that 'fish out of water' look? Dead giveaways. I would've know it even if I hadn't run into you before.

"Oh, so suddenly you have a thing for nicknames now Piper? When did that happen?" Judy asked, raising an eyebrow at the vixen.

"A couple months ago, just kinda started handing them out. For instance, Arturo is Turtle. Sullivan is Branches. Lionheart is Lionfart, but don't say it around him, he'll give you an earful. Now that I think about it, I need to give one to you, Judy.

"Beat you to it I'm afraid." Nick said smugly. "She's already called Carrots."

"Really?" she asked with a chuckle, and he nodded in response. "Damn, that's good. Wish I would've thought of it."

"Yes, yes, I'm sure you do. Now about why we're here. You wanted Nick for something?" Judy asked.

"Yep, come sit down." they each took a seat on couch near Piper's armchair. She turned to look at Nick. "Here's the deal. I want an interview. Your life story in print. I think it's time Diamond City had a little outside perspective on the Commonwealth."

"You won't get better 'outside perspective' anywhere else, believe me." Judy said.

"I think I'd rather hear it firsthand, Judy." Piper said. "So, you up for it?"

"Sure thing. I always wanted my name on the front page." Nick said with a sly grin.

"Speaking of, can I get your full name please?" Piper asked, lifting her pencil to the notepad.

"Nicholas Wilde." he said.

"Middle name too please. I don't want to leave out any details." He let out a small groan.

"Piberius." he said, obviously not very thrilled about it. The laughter coming from the two ladies certainly didn't help that.

"Piberius?" Judy said in between laughs. "Oh, I'm sorry Nick, but I must've been wrong about your parents last night. They really must not have loved you if they gave you _that_ middle name."

"Last night?" Piper said with an inquisitive look, but quickly shook her head to get back on topic. "Whatever, it's not like yours is any better. Laverne." Piper proclaimed. Now it was Nick's turn to tease.

"Laverne, eh? And here I thought Stu and Bonnie were nice mammals, Carrots. Such a shame." She gave him a light punch on the arm in response, but he barely reacted. Piper coughed to get their attention.

"As fun as all this is, I'd like to get this interview done so we can get a fresh edition out by tomorrow. So, I know you came from a Vault. How would you describe your time on the inside?" Nick became a little saddened upon hearing this, having to think again about Vault 111. He hid his emotions well though, maintaining a neutral expression.

"My son and I were frozen. I didn't spend much time in the vault." he said. Piper just gave a confused look, while Judy seemed to be trying to suppress a laugh, staring at the vixen.

"Wait. They boxed you up in a fridge? The whole time?" He nodded. "So, are you saying you were alive before the war?"

Nick put on a sly grin, determined to get the best reaction possible out of Judy. He stuck his arms out in a pose, like he was a god being praised by his worshipers.

"Behold. I am immortal." he said, causing Judy to put both her paws over her mouth to prevent her from laughing. Piper just stared wide eyed at him.

"Okay, seriously. You _really_ are over two hundred years old?" she asked.

"Yes. Yes I am." he said. She turned to Judy with the same dumbfounded face.

"He isn't screwing with me is he? Has he told you this stuff?" she said. Judy took a brief moment to compose herself before answering.

"I guarantee he isn't screwing with you. If he starts, I'll make sure to tell you." she said, giving him her own sly grin.

"Oh my God. The Fox Out of Time" Piper said. "H-How old are you exactly? Not counting the two hundred years you were on ice?"

"Thirty two." Nick answered.

"So, that makes you..." she went silent as she added up the numbers in her head. "242 years old. Damn. You're looking pretty good for your age, eh?" she said, quickly turning her attention to her notepad.

While Piper wrote in her notepad, Judy nudged him with her elbow. He turned to her, seeing that she was looking quickly back and forth between him and Piper, wiggling her eyebrows. He just rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to the vixen.

"You said you were in there with your son. Where is he currently?" Piper continued. This was going to be the tough one, but Nick still tried to keep a neutral expression.

"I don't know. Shaun was taken from me just before I got out. He's less than a year old." he said, his ears folding back slightly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Do you know who took him?" She asked. He shook his head, looking briefly at the ground.

"I… Do you mind if we come back to this later?" he asked.

"Sure, that's fine." she replied, moving on to the next question. "Okay. So, you've seen the Commonwealth. Diamond City. How does it compare to your old life?"

"Can you even compare the two? The state of the world, it's not even close to the one I left." he paused for a moment, as she began to write down more notes. "That being said, seeing everyone surviving out here after all this time? Rebuilding the world? I'd be lying if I said it didn't give me a little hope." This earned a smile from both Judy and Piper.

"That's… surprisingly inspired, Blue. We're definitely quoting that." Piper said as she wrote in her notes. "Now, back to your son, Shaun was it?" He nodded. "You said you have no idea who took him. Do you know what the Institute is?" she asked.

"Yes. Judy gave me a brief crash course on them already." he said.

"So you know they take people. Do you think they might be involved in any way?"

"Honestly, I don't know. It's possible I suppose, but what reason would they even have?"

"Nobody knows. That's what makes them so dangerous." she said. "And people wonder why I can't just look the other way." she shook her head again, getting back on track.

"Let's lighten the mood a little." Piper said, readjusting herself in her chair. "For the final part of our interview, I'd like to do something different. I want you to make a statement to Diamond City directly. The threat of kidnapping is all but ignored in the Commonwealth. Everyone just wants to pretend it doesn't happen."

"Wait, mammals just ignore kidnappings out here?" Nick asked.

"Well, you grow up in the Commonwealth, eventually someone's going to get taken. Maybe not someone you know..." she took a quick glance at Judy. "But someone. I want my readers to hear what keeps you going. Maybe they'll find a little inspiration."

_'Why did she look at Judy like that? Did something happen to her?'_

Nick stayed silent. He wanted to know more, but now was not the time to ask her those kinds of questions. He took a moment the think over the words he was going to say. If everyone in the city was going to hear this, then he wanted it to be good.

"No matter how much you want to give up, don't. The world may kick you down sometimes, maybe hurt the ones you love most, but you can never give up hope that you'll see them again. Or, at least that you'll know the truth." Again, this earned a smile from both Judy and Piper.

"A strong not to end on, Blue. Thanks." she said, finishing up her notes. Judy patted his shoulder softly, seeming to like his response.

"Alright, that's everything. Good stuff, Blue. It's going to take some time to put this all together, but I think your story is going to give Diamond City plenty to talk about." Piper said.

"No problem Piper. Anytime." he said, getting up from the couch.

"I'll hold you to that. If you end up finding your son, you can bet I'm going to want a follow-up story."

"Hmm. I'll have to get some new material ready then." he said, as he began to walk towards the exit.

"Oh, hey Nick." Judy said, causing him to turn around just in front of the door. "I haven't seen Piper in a while, and I promised her yesterday that we'd catch up. Do you mind if we meet up later?"

"No, go ahead. I'll be at the Dugout Inn. Just don't gossip about me too much while I'm gone, okay?" he said with a smirk.

"In your dreams, Slick. See you later." she said.

"Later." he replied with a wink, as he walked out the front door.

* * *

"So you guys had to take down a deathclaw?" Piper asked, taking a sip of Nuka Cola as she and Judy talked on the couch.

"Honest to God. We had McHorn wear a suit of power armor, and even then it was still a heck of a challenge." Judy said, shuddering at the thought of the reptilian beast charging at them. She'd been catching Piper up on what went on with her squad over the past few months. From the fall of Quincy, to the founding of Sanctuary. Piper had already told her own stories about reporting, telling her about some of the more dangerous encounters she'd had. They'd already talked for close to two hours, each of them eager to hear more.

"Damn. Even if Blue hadn't given that interview, I think I still would've had a good story to tell."

"Speaking of Nick..." Judy said, putting a mischievous look on her face. "What was it you said? 'You look pretty good for your age?' I didn't know you had a thing for older men, Piper."

"Oh for crying out loud. That was just a complement, Judy! If I went after every fox that came through the front gate I would've had as many kids as your parents by now." she said, earning a scowl from Judy. "Besides, I assumed you two had a thing going on."

"Seriously? What makes you say that?" Judy asked.

"That wink he gave you before he left. Plus, you said something about 'last night' earlier. I kinda though maybe something happened between you two. You know, with bunnies being bunnies..."

"Piper!" Judy yelled, earning a laugh from the vixen. She'd always hated that stereotype about bunnies, so naturally Piper teased her about it whenever she could.

"I'm sorry! You know I'm kidding. Just a little _curious_ is all." she said, taking another sip.

"Nothing even remotely close to _that_ happened. We just climbed the Wall and talked for a bit, and that's why I said what I said earlier. Happy?"

"Calm down, Jude! I'm just having a little fun." she said, giving Judy a light shove. "What did you guys talk about?"

"His parents mostly."

"Oh, how romantic." she giggled, earning another big scowl from Judy. "Okay, okay, I've gotten it out of my system. Please, continue."

"He just described his parents to me. Near the end, he kind of admitted that he always thought he was an accident, and I told him otherwise. I just wanted to cheer him up a bit."

"Alright." Neither of the spoke for what felt like quite some time. "Hey… Judy?" Piper said.

"Yeah?" she replied.

"I'm sorry about what I said during the interview. I wasn't really thinking, and..."

"It's fine, Piper" Judy said, cutting her off. "You weren't trying to offend me, I understand." Another long pause lingered between them, before Piper broke the silence.

"Have you told Blue about Sam?" she asked.

"No. Why would I? He doesn't need to hear about my family's problems." Judy said.

"I mean, I get it. It's kinda private, but it seems like he's already shared a lot with you. Maybe this could be a way to make things… I don't know, less one sided."

_'She has a point. He's opened up quite a bit to me. Maybe I should…'_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the front door flying open, with a fox in a tacky green shirt standing in the doorway.

"Carrots! We've got something!"

"Really? Did Ellie found out where Valentine is?" she asked, hopping of the couch.

"Well, yes and no." Nick said. "She found out he's somewhere in at the Park Street subway station, but when she tried to investigate the place, she was shot."

"What!? Is she okay?" she screamed. If Ellie had gotten hurt, and Judy could've helped protect her, she would never forgive herself.

"Calm down, she's fine. The bullet just grazed her arm. She's down at the agency right now if you wanna talk to her."

"Wait." Piper said, gaining the attention of both Nick and Judy. "You guys are gonna rescue Nicky? It's about time someone did. It's been getting boring around here without him. You can count me in on that."

"Piper, you're a reporter, not a soldier. You need to stay here." Judy said.

"And Blue here is a suburban parent, so I doubt he'd be any more useful in a fight than me." she said. "Besides, you know the kind of stuff I've managed to get myself into over the years. I doubt this'll be the worst of it."

"What about Nick's interview? Don't you have to work on that?" Judy asked.

"I can finish it when we get back. Maybe I can write another article on this little adventure. I can see the headline now, 'Unlucky Valentine.' It's too good to pass up."

"Come on, Carrots" Nick said. "I don't think a little extra help will do us any harm now will it?"

"You're damn right it won't. I'll meet you two at the front gate. I Just need to get a few things first." Piper said, as she moved deeper into her house.

"Well, that settles that. You want to go talk to Ellie?" Nick asked, his usual stupid grin on his muzzle.

"Uh, fine. Let's get to it, Slick."

As they walked back towards the agency, Judy's mind wondered to thoughts of Sam. Piper was probably right. Nick had shared so much private info with her, it only seemed fair that she shared a little of hers with him.

She'd tell him about her brother later on. When she was ready.

For now, they had a detective to rescue.


	15. Memory Lane

_**Zootopia is property of Disney** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda** _

* * *

"So, ready to head out you two?" Piper said as Nick and Judy walked out the front gate. Nick had dawned his his new wasteland apparel, wearing his combat armor in between his trench coat and his road leathers. Judy had put on her Minuteman uniform once again, but this time had a new addition. The handkerchief Nick had originally tied around her leg was now tied around her neck, as she had gotten an actual bandage placed on her wound when she was in the city. Judy had politely asked if she could wear it while they were getting ready, and while Nick teased her about it, he ultimately agreed, saying it made her look cute. She then had to remind him about the use of the C word.

"Absolutely, Let's go get Valentine." Judy said. "Ellie said he's in the Park Street Station. Either of you have any idea where that is?" Piper just gave a shrug, but Nick knew the answer.

"Yep. It's just at the edge of Boston Common. It shouldn't be more than an hours walk from here." he said. He had used the Boston subway many times in his life before the war, as the Park Street Station was the closest one to his mom's apartment, only a few blocks away. It massively inconvenienced her when the station closed down, apparently being used to build a Vault. If that was the case, these guys might have Valentine inside, but they would've needed a way to open the bunker first.

"Boston Common?" Judy said with a worried expression. "I don't think it'd be the best idea to go through there. That place kinda has a history."

"What kind of history?" Nick asked.

"The kind where mammals go in, but none ever come out."

"Well, we shouldn't have to go through it. Like I said, it's right on the edge, so we should be able to avoid whatever's stalking that pond. Any other places we should avoid along the way?" he asked. She took a moment to think, while Piper anxiously paced back and forth, ready to get a move on.

"Trinity Tower. Super mutants have that place locked down, and we do _not_ want to be caught out in the open by them."

"Alright. We'll bypass that, make our way to the station, and get Valentine."

"Great, great, can we get going please?" Piper quickly said. "I wanna get Nicky out of there before those assholes tear him limb from limb."

"Speaking of Nicky, what can you guys tell me about this Valentine guy?" Nick asked, as they all began to walk to the east. Judy and Piper exchanged a quick glance before Judy spoke up.

"He's… you know, a detective. Helped out a lot of people over the years." she said.

"Yes, you've already told me that. Like, what does the guy look like?"

"Oh, he should be pretty easy to spot. Always wearing an old hat and trench coat getup." Piper said, causing Nick to sigh and roll his eyes. They were obviously dodging the question, so he'd have to be more up front about it.

"You know what, I'll be blunt. What species is he?" Nick asked, getting annoyed at their games.

"How about we just wait, and you can find out for yourself, Slick?" she said.

 _'Okay,_ _th_ _ey're_ _not going to give me a straight answer_ _.'_ Nick thought. They didn't want to give him a solid description of the detective, keeping Nick in the dark on who the guy really was. They probably wanted to keep it a surprise, just so they could see his face when he sees that he's a shrew or something that you wouldn't think of. It didn't really matter. He'd meet the detective soon, and get one step closer to finding his son.

As the three of them walked just past the town's scrapyard, Nick took in the view of post-war Boston.

The buildings this far downtown were much more deteriorated that the smaller buildings at the edge of the city. Several of the skyscrapers had collapsed entirely, blocking off entire streets. The ones that hadn't collapsed were likely destined to at some point, judging by the way some of them now leaned slightly to the side, their metal exterior either heavily rusted, or completely gone.

If his parents could've seen the state of the city now, they would've been devastated. They each loved living in Boston, despite some of the people's attitude towards foxes. Even Nick himself was feeling down at the sight of the once great city.

They moved deeper in the urban jungle, passing by another collapsed building. Soon, they heard the sound of gunfire around a block ahead of them.

"How many we got, Jude?" Piper asked. The rabbit's ears were perked up high above her head, listening intently to the sounds of the fight ahead of them.

"Two mammals inside the lobby of that skyscraper." she said, pointing to the tall black and white building ahead. "One with a 10mm, the other with a 44. magnum. At least five across the street, probably raiders, judging by their pipe weapons."

"Are we gonna give them a hand?" Nick asked. He didn't look forward to that dreaded feeling returning once he got into a fight, but he would rather deal with that than let innocent mammals die.

"Absolutely. If we head up this street, the raiders should be on our left."

They made their way up the street, trying to stay as quiet as possible, but also making great haste. As the entrance to the lobby came into view, Judy's suspicions about raiders were confirmed. The maniacal mammals had moved up from where Judy originally said they were, now in the center of the street. The other two mammals were to their right, still taking the occasional pot shot from inside the lobby. As the three of them each found cover behind an old car, Nick readied his new rifle, bracing himself for the coming fight. He was positioned on the left, leaning against the engine, while Piper was at the trunk, with Judy in the middle.

Things were about to go down. Back in Cambridge, he'd lost focus for a second, trying to stop himself from enjoying it, and nearly payed the price for it. If he was going to survive in this world, he need to push those dark thoughts aside when he got in a fight.

 _'Don't think about it. Stay focused, stay in control. You can deal with this later.'_ Nick thought. He glanced briefly over at Judy, giving a quick nod, which she returned.

The rabbit lead with the first shot, her laser pistol evaporating the head of a female moose instantly. The other raiders turned to notice their fallen comrade, and quickly moved to find new cover. A wolf dashed quickly between the old cars in the street, trying to get closer to the three of them. If he got too close, the shotgun he wielded could do some serious damage.

Luckily Nick's new laser rifle proved to be incredibly accurate, taking down the wolf almost as soon as he peeked out from cover. It certainly packed more of a punch than his pistol.

"Nick, left!" Judy yelled, as she returned fire in front of them.

Just as Nick tuned his head, a ram bolted around out of an alleyway, lowering it's head and charging straight for Nick. As he fired at the raider, his shots continually hit the rams horns, leaving the raider a bit dazed, but ultimately unaffected. Now only a few meters away from him, Nick had to think fast, otherwise this guy would run straight through all three of them.

He made a bold move. He got out of cover, running back in the direction they came from, hoping to bait the ram away from his friends. His plan worked, and the raider skewed off course in the direction of the fox. As the ram approached him, Nick dove out of the way, leaving the ram to run headfirst into the side of a building. It left a sizable dent there, but before it could charge again, Nick fired several shots from his pistol in the raider, dropping him to the floor.

He quickly got down, not wanting to catch any stray bullets from the fight. He heard Piper's 10mm pistol go off one more time, along with a cry of pain from up the street, followed by silence.

The fight was over.

_'And you enjoyed it, you sick…'_

"You okay, Slick?" Judy asked ahead, shaking him from his thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good." he said. Not thinking about it during a fight wasn't enough it seemed. He made a strong mental note to push those thoughts aside until he was in a safe place. He had a job to do.

As they approached the lobby, Nick was able to better recognize the building. It was the Dartmouth Professional building. He'd only been inside a few times before the war, his cons there not being very successful, but it was still amazing how structurally sound the building was compared to the rest of the skyscrapers. The raccoon and weasel inside the lobby had already begun rummaging through anything they could find, seemingly forgetting about the deadly firefight they were just in.

"Hey! You guys okay?" Nick asked, taking the first step inside the lobby while Judy and Piper searched the fallen raiders. Upon hearing his voice, the raccoon behind the front desk eyed him quickly with a suspicious look, while the weasel ignored him, rummaging through shelves in the back of the lobby.

"Back off, pal." the raccoon said, still maintaining a suspicious look.

Nick took another step forward, wanting to make sure nobody was hurt.

"Hey!" the raccoon said, raising a 44. magnum straight at Nick. The fox stopped dead in his tracks, raising his paws above his head.

"Woah, take it easy buddy! I just wanted to…"

"And I told you to back off! This here's our scrap, and we ain't spittin' the share! Now scram, before I have to use this thing!" the raccoon yelled.

"Drop the gun, now!" Judy yelled behind him, raising her own pistol.

Upon seeing Judy, the raccoon quickly fired a shot, directly into Nick' chest, hitting his armor piece. Lucky for him, the bullet didn't pierce the armor, but the shot still hit him like a freight train, knocking him to the ground. He felt disoriented as he laid there in the lobby. He could hear gunfire going off both in front of, and behind him. He didn't have any idea who was winning, all he could focus on was how much that shot hurt.

After what felt like an eternity, he regained ahold of his senses, no longer hearing any gunfire. As he laid on the floor, Judy soon appeared overhead, along with Piper quickly after.

"Oh my God, Nick! Are you okay!?" She asked with heavy concern in her voice, kneeling down to asses his condition.

"Ahh… yeah. Never better." he said, through clenched teeth. Although the bullet only hit his armor, the sheer force of it still hurt a hell of a lot.

"You're damn lucky you bought that combat armor, Blue. That shot would've gone right through you otherwise." Piper said.

He looked down to see that armor now had small, but still sizable dent right in the center. Piper was right. That magnum would've destroyed him without that armor.

"Well, you're probably going to be bruised from that shot, but overall you should be fine." Judy said, helping the fox to his feet.

"Good to know." Nick said. He looked back at the front desk, seeing the weasel lying on the ground, along with the raccoon lying face down on the desk. "What the hell was the problem with those guys?"

"Probably scavengers. Just trying to find any amount of scrap they can, hoping to make a profit. I've learned over the years that most of them aren't very keen on sharing." Judy said.

"And they didn't care that we just saved their asses?" he asked.

"Evidently not." she said.

This troubled Nick greatly. The two mammals in the lobby had looked so… normal. Up until now, Nick saw this new world in black and white. The good guys were normal mammals, dressed in normal clothes. The bad guys were the ones wearing rusted pipes and other torn up clothing, and then you had all the monsters to worry about. Now, he'd didn't know who he could trust.

Well, except for the bunny and the vixen by his side of course. He knew they had his back, as they each had a good head on their shoulders. For now, he'd have to put his trust in whoever they said were good.

The trio continued moving through the city, being a bit more cautious around every corner after their previous encounter. Judy told Nick that while the alleyways would be a good spot to hide if things went sour, they were still a good hiding spot for others as well, seemed it went both ways. They'd have to keep an eye out. Judy's ears were perked up constantly now, while Nick and Piper each sniffed the air, searching for any scent that could prove to be a threat.

They soon approached Trinity Plaza, walking eastward on the road, just to the left of the old church. As they walked, Nick could see piles of spikes close to Trinity Tower, seemingly made out of steel girders. A small support beam was also placed down, with a metal cage hanging from the top, bones clearly visible inside. The smell of death was heavy in that place.

"The hell is that?" Nick asked, pointing to the morbid structure.

"That, is the work of the super mutants. They're just trying to intimidate us, keep us away from them. I won't lie to you, it's a pretty damn effective deterrent." Judy said.

Nick gulped. He'd just had one very close call no more than twenty minutes ago, so getting into a fight with deadly mutants was the last thing he wanted to do now. They moved past the plaza, the smell of death escaping their nostrils.

They continued to walk, the condition of the streets and buildings not improving the further they went into the city. Judy had to stop them a few times, as very obvious traps were placed out in the street. She lead them through some of the alleyways, coming out to find Boston Common visible in the distance. Nick now recognized the street they were on. Coming up on their left was Hubris Comics, and a few blocks past Boston Common would be his mom's apartment building.

"So, Hubris is still standing after all these years. This place was always fun as a kid." Nick said, stopping in front of the building.

"Were you a big comics fan back then?" Judy asked, also stopping along with Piper.

Nick shook his head. "Nah, not really. I just kinda came in and browsed when I had nothing better to do. I got a few shifty looks, but nothing I wasn't used to. The guys who ran it were nice enough. Some other places threatened to call the cops on me as soon as I walked through the doors."

"Damn." Piper said. "I heard that us foxes had it rough back in the day, but hearing about it firsthand is something else. I mean, sure I got the odd look every now and again when Nat and I first move to Diamond City, but that was more because I was a new face, not because I was a fox."

"It was tough, that's for sure." he said, eyeing the building. "You guys mind if we take a quick peek inside?"

"Sure, just let me check it out." Judy said, perking her ears up, her nose twitching adorably. "Things seem pretty quiet in there. I think we're good."

As he approached the front door, a familiar scent entered Nick's nostrils.

 _'God, that smells awful. Where have I smelled this before?'_ he thought.

"Hold up, Blue." Piper said, seemingly recognizing the scent. She moved up to sniff through the broken window. "Smells like ferals inside."

"Dammit. I thought I recognized that from somewhere. We ran into some feral ghouls in Cambridge. You sure your ears are working right, Judy?" he asked.

"Hey, if they aren't moving, I cant hear anything. Ferals like to do that sometimes, just lie down in a spot and not get up until something tasty comes by. In my experience, when you come across a building like this one, you leave it be."

"Noted." Nick said, backing off from the door. Seems that the world didn't want to let him relish in a few childhood memories.

They continued down the street, with Nick taking note of the chains wrapped up around the entrance to Boston Common. It wouldn't keep anything contained inside obviously, but the message was clear. Keep out.

As they reached the intersection, Nick paused. On his left, the street lead to the Park Street Station, where they would hopefully find Valentine. On his right, the street ahead seemed to be fortified, most likely by raiders. In front of him however, the road would soon lead to his mom's apartment. As much as he wanted to get Shaun back, he felt he needed to get some sort of closure with at least one of his parents. His dad's place was closer to the harbor, so they wouldn't be able to get there now.

"Hey! You okay, Blue?" Piper asked, as she and Judy stopped, having already turned left to head towards the station.

Nick was a bit nervous. They all wanted to get Valentine as soon as possible, but he was afraid they wouldn't be willing to make any detours. Sure, they'd just offered to let him rummage through Hubris Comics before they found out ghouls had already called the place home, but he was still worried.

"Yeah. It's just… my mom's place is a short ways up the road here. I was hoping that maybe I could get a peek inside."

"Oh, sure. No problem." Judy said, as she and Piper each moved to follow Nick up the road. He'd already told her about his parents, so she seemed understand what he needed to do.

A short walk later, and they were all outside the Vulpine Arms Apartments building. It wasn't a fox only place obviously, as forcefully segregating like that was banned everywhere. But the owner was a fox, and knew Nick's mom, giving her a discount on the rent. They were lucky to get a two bedroom apartment back then, as most were extremely expensive. Nick had offered her to move out when he started making good money, but she always refused, saying she had too many memories here.

They moved up the stairs of the eight story building. His mom's place was on the third floor, with the fancier apartments on the top floor. As he approached the door, anxiety built in his chest. He was afraid of what he might find inside. Maybe the apartment was collapsed, maybe he'd find her bones inside.

Or worst of all, he might find her inside, ghoulified and feral, no longer the great mammal she once was. The last thing he wanted to do was have to put his own mother out of her misery.

To his great relief, Judy heard nothing on the inside, and neither he nor Piper could smell anything that resembled a ghoul. He opened the door, his heart sinking slightly at the sight of his childhood home. The wallpaper had completely peeled of the walls, and the furniture was either heavily torn, or completely broken. Everything had a thick layer of dust around it, as though nothing had disturbed this place in hundreds of years.

"So. This is it." he said, pondering over every little detail.

"You grew up here?" Judy asked, looking over the old apartment.

"Yep." he said, his ears folding behind his head. He was trying to not let his emotions show, but around Judy they seemed more willing to come out.

He opened the door to his mom's bedroom. The bed frame was collapsed, and the mattress was nowhere in sight. Her closet was completely empty, and all of her various knick knacks she liked to collect lay broken on the floor.

He quickly shut the door. He didn't want to remember her things like this, broken and discarded. He moved on to his old room, opening the door to reveal a similar situation to the one in his mom's room.

"Two hundred years ago, you would've found the angstiest teenage fox in history sitting on that bed." he said, smirking and shaking his head at the thought of some of the stupid things he'd done back then.

"I don't know, Blue. Nat's gonna be a teenager in a few years. She might one-up you in that department." Piper said, earning a laugh from both Nick and Judy.

"I guess she might." he said. He looked once again into the room, this time walking around to the other side of his collapsed bed frame. To his surprise, he found something on the other side. A piece of paper laid face down on the floor, with a broken picture frame nearby. He kneeled down and flipped it over, revealing a photo of himself, his mom, and his dad, all huddled closely together around a table.

He remembered that photo. It was from his tenth birthday. The entire day he hadn't seen a single mammal give him a sideways look, or heard a single slur hurled his way. That didn't mean that none of that had happened of course, but it still felt amazing to him to feel what that was like. His parents took him out to his favorite restaurant to eat, and he'd gotten exactly what he wanted for his birthday. A Grognak the Barbarian action figure from his dad, and a new holotape game from his mom.

He couldn't help but tear up at the picture. It was one of the best days of his childhood, and he managed to find a physical memory of it.

Soon he wasn't just tearing up, he was full on crying.

For his mom.

For his dad.

And for the world he lost.

He felt a small paw on his right shoulder, followed by Judy speaking softly.

"Are you alright, Nick?" she asked. He turned to face her.

"Yeah, (sniff) I was just..." He didn't finish his sentence, instead just showing her the photo of his parents. She scanned over the picture before realizing what it was.

"Oh, Nick." she said, leaning into him and wrapping her arms around him. To his own surprise, he actually returned the hug, finding great comfort in it. They were around the same height due to him kneeling down, so the positioning wasn't a problem. He was never much of a hugger, but he couldn't deny how nice this was. If he'd had someone to hug when he first left the Vault, he wouldn't have stayed up there for nearly as long as he did.

They embraced for several seconds. Just the two of them.

And their other friend standing in the doorway.

"Uh, you guys good?" Piper asked, probably feeling a bit awkward. Nick broke the hug, giving a quick smile to Judy.

"Yeah. We're good." he said, standing up and opening his backpack. He carefully placed the photo inside. This was one of the last memories of the pre-war life he had, and he wasn't going to lose it.

"Okay. Sorry if I ruined the moment there, or whatever." she said, earning a scoff from Judy.

"It was just a hug, Piper. Don't go getting any ideas now." the rabbit said.

"Seriously." Nick said. They had know each other for only two days, so Piper was certainly getting ahead of herself. Plus, she was a bunny. That would just make things more complicated.

They all moved to leave the old apartment, with Nick taking one last look before he left. Yes, the room was full of dust and everything was broken down, but this was where he grew up. Tears started to grow in his eyes once again, but he managed to get control of them before they escalated any further.

"Goodbye Mom." he said, closing the front door.

As painful as all that was, he needed it. He was able to gain some closure. It helped that he had a good friend to comfort him at the time.

Now he just needed to get back to his job.

Get that detective, and find Shaun.


	16. A Familiar Voice

_**Zootopia is property of Disney** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda** _

* * *

Getting through that subway station was starting to seem like more trouble than it was worth. When they first entered the station, they ran into a pair of ghoulified elks in formal wear guarding the entrance. They proved to be no threat, as Nick and Judy each fired a shot from their laser weapons almost as soon as the Triggermen raised their weapons at them.

The actual subway platform though, proved to be much more of a challenge. When they descended the stairs leading to the platform, they were almost immediately spotted by more Triggermen. The three of them quickly moved behind a knocked over Nuka-Cola machine, keeping their heads down as the gangster fired away.

Slowly but surely, they picked them all off, with Judy's excellent hearing being monumentally useful in helping them flush the mobsters out of cover. She was able to signal to Nick and Piper exactly when one of Triggermen was about to pop up, letting the two foxes each get off a quick shot. When they stood up from behind the soda machine, they all took a deep breath, very glad that they could get a quick breather in.

Nick took in the surroundings of the platform. The tunnels on their left had completely collapsed, while the ones on their right were still open, and was likely where they had to go next. The trains cars sitting on the tracks had large Vault-Tec shipping crates on them, their open doors revealing smaller crates on the inside. It was peculiar to see so many supplies not inside the Vault. Had they been too rushed to get inside, and were forced to leave these supplies so they could seal the door? Or did the Triggermen move these crates outside, creating more space in the Vault? The second one seemed unlikely, but perhaps they would find out soon.

Just as they were all enjoying their quite moment, three more gangsters, a rhino, a ghoulified horse, and a tiger, came running out of the open tunnels, firing submachine guns wildly at Nick and the others. They quickly moved to cover once again, as the Triggermen each did the same.

The horse and the tiger shouldn't be any harder to take down than the average mammal, but the rhino's size was of course anything but average. It would take a bit more power to take him down. If Judy could get close enough, her shotgun should do the trick.

The tiger peeked up and ran to the right, hoping to get a flank on the three of them. He sprayed his gun at the vending machine as he ran, trying to keep them suppressed as he found new cover. Piper peeked out of cover, taking a couple shots in her right arm, but not before she got a few shots of her own into the feline's head.

"Ah! Son of a..." Piper cursed as she dipped back into cover, her left paw now covering her new wounds. Nick quickly reached into his bag, pulling out one of his stimpaks, and tossing it to Piper. She rolled up the sleeve of her red trench coat, and jammed the needle into her arm. It would take a minute for her to be one hundred percent again, but with only two mammals left it shouldn't be that much trouble for Nick and Judy to handle.

 _'Oh, right. The rhino.'_ Nick thought.

The horned giant came out of cover behind one of the subways support pillars, slowly walking towards the vending machine they were all behind, as he fired wildly at the group. If he got close enough, he would have no trouble throwing their cover aside, exposing them to the horse.

This would have to be the second time today Nick had ran out of cover, hoping to distract some maniac so they wouldn't hurt his friends. This time he swiftly dashed towards on of the support pillars, feeling bullets rush by his tail as he ran. The plan again seemed to be working, as Judy was able to quickly fire her shotgun right into the kneecap of the rhino while he was distracted. The large Triggerman fell down on one knee, screaming in pain and clutching his wounded knee, before Judy fired the other shot straight into the rhino's head, sending bloody chunks flying in all directions.

"Vinnie, no!" the horse yelled in his gravelly ghoul voice. He popped out from behind on of the shipping crates, spraying his submachine gun everywhere in the subway. Nick didn't know how many bullets these guys had in those guns, but with the amount they were wasting it was likely they would run out eventually.

And soon enough, that was the case. The sound of the gunfire stopped, replaced by a quick _click click click_ sound coming from behind the shipping crate.

"Ah, shit!" the horse yelled. When he ducked down to reload, Nick took his chance, moving up behind the horse, his laser rifle aimed at it's head. As he was grabbing a new magazine, the Triggerman noticed him, and his went wide-eyed. He quickly dropped the gun and magazine, raising his hands above his head.

"Wait, wait, wait!" he stammered quickly, with fear showing in his eyes. "Don't shoot! I won't tell Skinny Malone a thing, I swear!" Nick didn't want to kill him, despite the firefight that had just occurred between them. If the ghoul didn't want to put up any more of a fight, than Nick would gladly let him walk.

"Fine. Get out of here." he said, gesturing towards the stairs with his rifle. Nick looked over to see Judy walk towards them, followed by a slightly dazed looking Piper behind her.

"And if we see you back here again, we won't be so generous." Judy said, aiming her own pistol at the horse. He quickly ran towards the stairs as the trio all aimed their guns at him.

 _'Come on, shoot the bastard. You know you want to._ _'_

 _'No! Stop it! You're better than that!'_ He shook his head, turning away from the horse before he did something he'd regret.

Not focusing on that feeling wasn't helping it seemed. He had just thought about shooting an unarmed mammal in the back as he was running away from them. Things weren't getting better, and he'd need to find help for this soon. For now though, he needed to focus on the task at hand. He reminded himself to put those thoughts at the back of his mind until they got back to Diamond City.

_'What the hell is wrong with me?'_

"You okay, Nick?" he heard Judy ask. He turned back around to see her and Piper staring at him, with the vixen still clutching her arm.

_'Don't let them see that this is effecting you. Get back to being your normal self.'_

"Yeah. Just a bit shaken is all. How're you holding up, Red?" he asked, looking at Piper.

"Red? That's real original isn't it?" she said.

"Well, red fur, red coat, plus the whole 'Blue' thing with me. You know, Red and Blue, you see what I'm getting at?"

"Yes, but she is right. Not the most original name." Judy said. "You come up with that one during the fight, or were you just saving it for later?"

Nick didn't want to say what the _real_ reason was for the nickname, to distract them from his behavior. He'd already told Judy about his problem, but he was a bit afraid of what Piper would think, so he just gave a silent shrug in the end.

"Well, to answer your question, I'll be fine in a minute." Piper said. "This is hardly the worst thing that's happened to me outside the city. Remind me later to tell you about the time I was almost sacrificed to Atom."

"To who?" Nick asked with a small tilt of his head.

"You know, the Children of… oh right. You're kinda new here. I'll tell you all about it later, Blue."

They moved deeper into the old tunnel, passing by more abandoned shipping containers, all well as other various pieces of junk along the way. Soon they came upon some heavy machinery, along with the left side of the tunnel being heavily dug out. And wouldn't you know it, right at the end of all that digging was a large, cog shaped door, with the number 114 written in the center.

"There's a Vault down here?" Judy said, looking at Piper, who seemed just as surprised as she was.

"Did you know about this?" the rabbit asked as she turned to Nick.

"Oh, yeah. I remember when they closed the station down to build this one." he said, enjoying how angry she was getting.

"Why didn't you tell us? I thought this was going to be a bit easier than fighting through a whole Vault!" she said angrily.

"Calm down, Carrots. I just wanted to keep it a surprise. You know, like you did with Diamond City, and now with the detective..."

"Alright. Point taken." She said with a sigh. The three of them all stared at the large door.

"How are we even supposed to get inside? I doubt we can just knock and ask nicely." Piper said.

"Leave that one to me." Nick said, raising his left arm to show off his pip-boy. He walked up the stairs to the control panel, pulling out the cable from the back of his pip-boy, and inserted it into the port. The hatch covering the button opened, and he pressed it hard with his fist. After a brief second, the sound of machinery churning could be heard, and the Vault door opened, it's platform extending out to the entrance.

"Ladies first." Nick said, smirking as Judy and Piper walked past.

"What a gentleman, letting us get shot at before him. Nice catch you got here, Judy."

"Shut up, Piper." Judy said, scanning the area and allowing her ears to scout out the next few rooms.

Nick noticed that this Vault was much for run down than Vault 111 had been when he first got out. Sure there was a bit of rust around, but this place was so much worse by comparison, with most of the metal heavily rusted and dirt being visible on many surfaces. They continued to walk, with Judy stopping them in front of a locked door.

"Wait." she said, sticking her paw out at her side. "Someone's coming."

They all quickly found cover, each of them getting a good sightline on the door to the left of the Vault entrance. A panther soon walked outside.

"Dammit, I hate it when they open the door! Why the hell's that thing so damn loud?" he said. Before he could step any further, the trio each peeked out from behind cover, aiming their weapons straight at the feline. Before any of them could say a word, the panther screamed out behind him.

"Shit! They're here for the…" was all he managed to say before Piper's 10mm silenced him. A ghoulified canine rushed out of the same door, charging at them with baseball bat of all things. He fell even faster than the panther did.

"Did that guy seriously think he could take on three armed mammals with a baseball bat?" Nick asked.

"Ellie said these guys were dangerous. She never said they were very bright." Judy said.

They moved deeper into the Vault, taking down two more Triggermen stealthily before coming upon something none of them expected. A construction zone, inside of a cave. The large cavern they were in was just past one of the normal doors, but the metal walkways and lack of any walls or ceiling showed that this place was not finished. It would explain how these guys got inside so easily. If the bunker wasn't completely enclosed, then anything could get inside eventually.

The Triggermen posted in this area of the Vault didn't seem to like the fact that the trio was invading their hideout, so they kindly asked them to leave.

Oh wait, that's not right. They shot at them like always.

The lack of any real cover made it easy to take down the gangsters, but that went both ways unfortunately. Nick had to keep moving to make sure he wasn't hit, stopping only to take the occasional shot as they worked their way further into the Vault, soon finding an area that was actually built up. The only issue was that the door leading onwards was caved in, and none of them would be able to squeeze through that small of a gap, even Judy. That left only one more place to go. The hole in the floor, made by a lack of paneling in the area. It certainly wasn't the safest route, but it was the only option they had.

"Uh, ladies first?" Nick said again, earning a scowl from both Judy and Piper.

"Why don't you do the honors, Slick? You've already been gracious enough" Judy said, giving him her own smirk.

"I hate you." he said before took a deep breath and jumped down the hole, rolling as he landed to reduce the impact of the fall.

"Alright. You next, Red!"

"Eh, I still don't know if I'm felling that name, Blue." Piper said, looking down at him.

"Just shut up and get down here! And don't act like Blue is any better!"

Piper then jumped down herself, landing a bit harder due to the fact that she didn't roll.

"Oh, gonna feel that one in the morning." she said, moving aside to allow Judy to come down, which was taking a surprisingly long time.

"You still with us up there, Carrots?" Nick yelled.

"Yeah, it's just… that's a bit of a drop." she said as she peeked over the edge.

"What, you scared of heights or something?" he said with a smirk as he looked up at her.

"Why would I… No. I'm not. The fall is just going to be a bit bigger for me than it was for you guys."

"So, do you want me to catch you or something?"

"If you could, yes."

He took a quick glance at Piper.

"Bunnies, eh?" he said, and she gave off a small chuckle. "Alright, I'm ready for you." He stretched out his arms, following Judy as she dropped down the opening. He gave off a small 'oomph' as she landed in his arms.

"Thanks." she said as he let her down.

"Wow, Jude." Piper began. "You've only known Nick for a few days and you're already..."

"If you say what I think you're about to say, I'll tell Nat about a certain vixen's trip to Goodneighbor that involved a few too many shots. Got it?" Judy said, eyeing Piper angrily.

"Loud and clear." Piper responded meekly, lowering her head.

Nick knew what she was going to say. 'Falling for him.' That would've been rich. He almost wished he'd thought of it. Although he already knew how to push Judy's buttons, it seemed that Piper could teach him a few things.

They didn't encounter any more resistance as they moved through the corridors of this part of the Vault. They mostly passed by some old maintenance carts, carrying several different types of tools. They eventually found another door, leading them onto the second floor of what looked to be some type of atrium. Nick eyed a staircase on their left, as well as a coyote up on the third floor, peeking through a circular window.

"How you doin' in there, Valentine? Feelin' hungry? Wanna snack?" the coyote teased, it's voice echoing throughout the atrium. An eerily similar voice responded from the window, sounding like something out of an old noir film.

"Keep talking, meathead. It'll give Skinny Malone more time to think about how he's gonna bump you off." the voice replied. Something about the way he talked seemed familiar.

"Don't give me that crap, Valentine. You know nothin', you got nothin'."

While the two mammals exchanged words, the three of them quietly moved towards the staircase.

"Really?" the voice said. "I saw him writing your name down in that black book of his. 'Lousy cheating card shark' I think were his exact words. Then he struck the name across three times."

"Three strikes? In the black book? But I never… oh no… I-I gotta smooth this over! Fast!" The coyote said, and footsteps were soon heard approaching the staircase.

Luckily none of them had gone up the stairs yet, so they all hid underneath them as the coyote ran by, cursing to himself as he walked. Once they were sure the mobster wasn't coming back, they headed up the stairs.

In another stroke of luck, it seemed that the coyote had left the terminal logged in, so all Nick had to do was find the command to unlock the door.

"Guess who, Nicky?" Piper said as she peeked through the window, standing on her toes.

"Piper? Well, gotta love the irony of the reverse damsel-in-distress scenario, but how the heck did you get past Skinny Malone's goons?" Valentine said.

"Judy came back to town, gave me a hand."

"The Hopps's daughter? Glad to see she's okay. That bunny must be something else in a fight."

"Good to see you too, Mr. Valentine." Judy said as she waited in front of the door.

"Oh, she is, no doubt. But she did get some help herself. She brought this guy along, name's Nick too. I think he has a case for you." she said.

"Well, he came to the right mammal, if not the right place. Now, you wanna get this door open? I say we got about three minutes before someone other than muscles-for-brains comes to check on me." he said.

"You doing alright over there, Blue?"

"Almost there." Nick replied. The door to the office soon opened, revealing a fedora and trench coat wearing…

Synth. Just like the ones they'd ran into back at ArcJet. Same canine shape. Same glowing yellow eyes. Same weird material covering it's body. This one was a bit more deteriorated though, as the skin on the left side of it's head and parts of it's neck were gone. It's left 'paw' was perfectly intact, but it's right one was striped completely of the plastic skin, showing off the metal skeleton on the inside.

Nick was now aware that the synth had said something too him, but he was too busy staring at it to hear what it said.

"Look pal, I know the skin and the metal parts ain't comforting, but it's not important right now. The only thing that matters is why you went to all this trouble just for me to hear your case?" the synth said, as it took out a cigarette and lit it.

Something about that smoke made it all click inside Nick's head. The voice, the way it talked, the way it stood, even the way it smoked. It was all so familiar. When Judy first told him the detective's name, Nick Valentine, he'd thought it was just a coincidence. That wolf had died 200 years ago, just like everyone else. This couldn't be the same guy, could it?

_'Only one way to find out.'_

"I'll get to that, but first I got a quick question to ask you." Nick said. "What is it with wolves and the howling?"

Judy and Piper each gave him a confused look, but the synths glowing eyes widened. It's mouth hung open slightly as it eyed Nick up and down, inspecting the fox's every detail.

And when it responded, Nick didn't have a doubt in his mind.

"Well I'll be damned… Wilde?"


	17. The Name's Ironic

_**Zootopia is property of Disney.** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda.** _

* * *

This wasn't exactly how Judy imagined this would go.

She thought Nick would tense up upon seeing Valentine, with eyes wide and jaw on the floor. Then She and Piper would laugh and he'd say something like 'why didn't you tell me?' Then Valentine would tell him to relax or something, she and Piper would laugh some more, and general hijinks would ensue.

Instead, Nick said something about wolves howling, then Valentine got a weird look on his face, then he called Nick by his last name.

They knew each other.

 _'How is this even possible?'_ Judy thought. She and Piper exchanged looks, seemingly thinking the same thing.

"So it really is you." Nick said, his eyes inspecting every part of the detective. "Wha… Whe… How did this even happen? You're a synth!"

"Well, you always had a good pair of eyes on you, Wilde." Valentine said. "Believe me, I'm as shocked as you are. How the heck are you still alive after 200 years? You don't look a day older than the last time we spoke. Last I heard, you moved out of town, apparently found a nice gal, even had a kid. You never seemed like a family mammal to me."

"Yeah, well all that's true, except for the nice gal part. I moved to a place that had a Vault nearby, and they cryogenically froze us inside. I only got out two days ago."

"Damn. Only a few days out and you're already getting into trouble. I shouldn't be surprised." the synth said.

Okay, this wasn't helping Judy understand any of this. She needed to get some answers.

"Hold the phone for one second, guys. How the hell do you two know each other?" she said, looking back and forth between the fox and synth.

"Well, before our lovely metal friend here was a synth, he was a wolf, and a damn fine detective back before the war." Nick said.

"So now you give my skills a little praise. You didn't seem so fond of them when I was looking into that little stunt of yours at the airport." Valentine said.

"That, was _completely_ legitimate, you couldn't touch me. The one at the State House though, that was a close one. You almost had me scared for a second."

"Guys! Focus! I'm trying to understand why you guys are talking like old friends!" Judy yelled, causing Nick to chuckle.

"Friends? I don't know. Friends don't usually try to put friends in jail. I liked to think of us more as rivals. Always fighting an eternal battle, and stuff like that." Nick said.

"Wait, he what?" Judy said, wanting a bit more clarification on everything.

"This guy," he said, pointing his finger at Valentine, "made it his personal mission for a few months to get me arrested."

"And this fox was one of the best con-men in Boston, don't know if he told you that one." Valentine said. "Him and that fennec partner of his made quite the team. Even after two months of building a case on them, I could never get enough evidence to put either of them away."

"Aww, don't sell yourself short, Valentine." Nick said, smirking at the synth. "You weren't the first cop to try and get me locked up. You certainly made more progress than others. You remember Officer Clawson? That guy really had it in for me. The thing was, he never..."

"Nick! Please! Why didn't you tell me you knew Valentine?" Judy asked, causing Nick to scoff.

"What, was I supposed to think that he was the same Valentine you were talking about? I thought it was all just a coincidence. I never imagined it would actually be him." Nick said.

"Well, he could've been a ghoul for all you knew!" Judy said, trying to think over the fox's logic.

"I'll be honest, Carrots. The thought never even crossed my mind. What were the odds that it would be the same wolf?"

"Hold on, you never said you were a detective before the war, Nicky. Keeping secrets from me now?" Piper said, staring at the synth.

"It doesn't exactly come up in conversation much, Piper. Not the kind of thing you just go around telling folks all willy nilly." Valentine said.

"Seems like a pretty interesting talking point if you ask me." she responded. "And Blue. Really? A con-man? Don't you think that was kinda reinforcing the stereotype back then?"

Judy felt a little more down upon hearing this. Nick had already told her a bit about why he did such things 200 years ago. She only knew a small amount about it, but Piper didn't hear about any of that. She doubted that the vixen would even be able to understand it that well, and she was a fox herself. It was a very different world back then. Sure, a lot of things were way better off than they were now, but not everything.

To her surprise Nick let out a chuckle, probably trying to hide any emotions, which he was rather good at. The fox just shook his head, acting like he was simply reminiscing about the old days.

"Yeah, I suppose I was." was all he said before he turned his attention back to the synth detective. "The thing I'm wondering about, is how did you manage to replace that ugly mug for something even worse? I doubt you just stumbled upon this thing one day and pulled an ol' switcheroo on your wolf body" The detective let out his own small chuckle.

"I'm afraid I've got no answer for you there, Wilde. Most of my memories are a little faded, but I remember volunteering for some experiment. Next thing I know, I wake up in a garbage heap with a tattered mechanical body and a lot of fuzzy memories. Suffice to say it was a confusing couple of weeks."

"Yeah, well I'm with you there. This is all a bit much for me to comprehend as well." Nick replied. Judy didn't doubt it. Thrust into an entirely different world in the blink of an eye, having everything and everyone you've ever known destroyed. She doubted she could've handled it herself. It was amazing Nick was holding up as well as he was.

Judy at least had some answers now, crazy as they all where. She thought that Nick was a one of a kind case, and while technically he still was, he certainly wasn't the only mammal who was still alive after 200 years. Though, perhaps it would be good that both of them had a personal connection, even though they were always at each others throats by the sound of it. It might make Valentine more inclined to help him out. Of course, not everything had been answered.

' _What that thing about wolves howling? Why was that the thing that made him remember Nick?'_

"Okay, what was that thing you said about wolves, Nick? It's kind of an odd thing to say out of the blue, so why'd he recognize it?" Nick let out another chuckle.

"That, my dear Carrots, is how I used to taunt him after he'd unsuccessfully try to get me arrested. We'd go back and forth, with him saying he'd get me one of these days, then I'd make some stupid quip that Finnick would just _hate_ , and then I'd tell him that little taunt, just to rile him up."

"Well you'll have to stop using it I'm afraid." Valentine said. "For whatever reason, I never get the urge to howl at the moon anymore. Maybe that was just part of my old body, or maybe that reflex just faded away. Regardless of all that, we still need to get out of this damn Vault, fast. Can you at least tell me what you came here for before we hit the road?" Nick let out a sigh before he spoke up.

"My son, I took him into the Vault with me, and he was frozen as well. He was taken before I got out." he said, seeming to keep his composure. It was good that he was starting to manage things better, but Judy didn't want him to hide his emotions outright.

"Damn. That's rough. Lucky for you, I'll owe you one if we actually get out of here, so we'll get started on this as soon as we get back to Diamond City. I assume you've been there already?" Valentine said, and Nick nodded. "Well let's get going then. Only a matter of time before they send more goons to make sure I haven't busted out of here yet. I'll let you heavily armed folk lead the way until I can get my hands on something."

"Oh! That reminds me." Piper said. She reached into her own bag, pulling out a pipe revolver, along with some .45 ammo. "Got you something. I saw it and thought of you." she jokingly said, as she handed the revolver to the synth.

"How thoughtful." Valentine responded, before turning to face Nick.

"Before we go I just wanted to say, even though we had our differences way back when, It's good to see a familiar face, Wilde. Even if it is one I wanted to put in the big house." the detective said.

"Good to see you too, Valentine. Even though you don't really have your old face. This one makes your old wolf one look downright godlike by comparison." Nick said with a smirk.

They moved out of the office, heading back down the staircase, towards the door they entered the atrium through. They couldn't go back that way unfortunately, as the hole they dropped down would prevent any of them from getting back up. There had to be another way out of course. They just needed to find it.

They walked down another staircase, leading to the first floor of the atrium, before Judy heard something approaching from another room. Footsteps, voices, coming from behind a door at the other end of the first floor.

"Get down." she said, as she flipped one of the small metal tables on its side, taking cover behind it along with Nick. Piper and Valentine each took cover behind different support pillars, waiting for Judy to give the signal.

The door opened, and the voices were much more clear to everyone now.

"So why the hell was Dino in such a rush? The guy looked like he was about to puke." one gravelly voice said.

"Beats me." another voice said. "Guess the detective said something that got him all riled up. Maybe we should go see if he knows anything."

"Yeah, let's… wait. Who the hell put that table like that?" the gravelly voice said.

_'Well, no point in delaying the inevitable.'_

Judy peeked out from the right side of the table, firing two quick shots from her laser pistol into a skunk. The ghoullified otter standing next to him jumped at the sight, firing shots randomly into the room. She went back into cover, then heard the shots of a laser rifle, 10mm pistol, and a pipe revolver all go off.

"We're clear." Valentine said.

When she peeked up, four triggermen lie dead in the doorway, not standing a chance against their ambush. Seems that Valentine was right about more mammals coming as well. This likely wouldn't be the last of them, so they had to keep moving.

"I never liked going in hard and loud like that, but it certainly gets the job done. Too bad for whoever cleans up the floors." the synth said, as they all continued through the doorway, moving through the next dirty corridor.

They passed by open crates, lockers and what seemed to be some showering area, the only pieces of privacy being these small curtains separating the showers. It was strange to see such an advanced structure as a Vault not care about privacy. Not that one could get much of that in Diamond City anyway. It was a very crowded town, and Judy's house alone now had ten bunnies living inside. Being alone while bathing was considered something of a luxury.

They moved to open the next door, but when Judy pressed the open button on the door's control panel, a loud buzz sound came out of it, and the door remained closed.

"It won't open" Judy said, pressing the button a few more times just to be sure. It wasn't changing anything, and Valentine soon moved her aside.

"Let me take a look at that." he said, as he inspected the control panel. "It's on the fritz, maybe got some bad wiring in here." He opened the panel, tingling with the wires on the inside. Soon enough, the door opened.

"There we go. Hell of a lot easer when this thing isn't on the other side." he said, as he and Piper moved through the door, leaving Nick and Judy standing there for a moment.

"You, lead a very interesting life, Mr. Wilde." Judy said, looking up at the fox.

"And you should feel very lucky to be along for the ride, Ms. Hopps." he said, smirking at her, before moving though the door himself. She quickly followed.

She was right. It was unlikely anyone else in the whole world lived a life quite like Nick's.

But he was also right.

She was very glad she was along for the ride.

* * *

 _'Are we out of this damn Vault yet? This_ _place_ _has way too many_ _sets of_ _stairs_ _in it_ _.'_ Nick thought to himself.

They had just fought past what he hoped would be the last group of Triggermen to stand in their way. They'd already fought through the residential area of the Vault, moving through each room that was cramped full of bunk-beds, and seemed to offer little to no privacy. This Vault was so different to Vault 111. It seemed to be very poorly made, and would've made life difficult for it's residents. If these two Vaults were this different, what would the other one's be like? Were there any other ones like Vault 111?

It didn't really matter, as they had to focus on getting out of the bunker. If they left right now, they'd hopefully get back to Diamond City at around 4pm, leaving them with not a whole lot of daylight for Valentine to help find his son.

Valentine. He still couldn't believe it. Here was the old detective in the flesh. Or more accurately, in the metal with weird plastic skin. The odds that he was the same one Nick had known back in the day were astronomical, yet here he was. Well, here his mind was at least, in some capacity. The body luckily still resembled a canine, but not specifically a wolf, and the face was very different from his old one.

In some ways, he was thrilled. Valentine was an amazing detective before the war, having apparently been brought in from Chicago to help out with some of the crime in Boston. If he could help Nick, his odd of finding Shaun would go way up.

In other ways however, he was a bit nervous. While they always maintained a certain level of mutual respect for one another back in the day, they were still on opposite sides of the law. Nick didn't do that stuff anymore, but there was still a chance that the detective could still hold a small grudge. Although, he already said he would help Nick, so he didn't really have that much to worry about.

They all walked through another doorway. A desk sat in the room, facing yet another door. The desk had a terminal on it, as well as a box of unused vault-suits. Nick earlier suspicions were right. This Vault was probably never even populated.

Valentine moved to inspect the control panel on this door, as it seemed to be locked like the door earlier on. As he fiddled with the wires, Judy's ears perked up.

"We've got movement out there." she said. "Four of them, I think. One small, two medium sized, one large."

"The big one's probably Skinny Malone. The name's, uh, ironic, as you could guess, but don't let that fool you. The tapir's dangerous." Valentine said as he continued fiddling with the control panel. "Turns out the runaway bunny I came here to rescue wasn't kidnapped, she's Skinny Malone's new flame. He always had a thing for small women, and she must've taken a liking to him, don't ask me why."

"Wait, she's a bunny?" Judy asked, and Valentine nodded. "If she's out there, she could probably hear us, you know." she said.

To make matters worse, they heard a very mobster-like voice yell one the other side of the door.

"You bet your asses she can hear you! Now you come out here, Nicky! We got business to discuss!" the voice said.

"Hmm, guess that answers that. I almost got this thing open, so be ready for anything." Valentine said.

The door opened, revealing the entrance to the Vault, but with a few more guests. A large tapir in a tuxedo stood in the center wielding a submachine gun, with a small black furred bunny in a blue sequin dress by his side, holding a baseball bat. She didn't seem like that much of a threat, but then again, there were some nails poking out of the end of her bat, and those could definitely do some damage. Behind them were a buffalo and a cougar, each wearing similar business suits, as well as wielding submachine guns.

None of them looked happy.

"Nicky, what're you doin'?" the tapir began to say in angry voice, his strange snout flopping around as he spoke. "You come into my house, shoot up my guys. You have any idea how much this is gonna set me back?"

Valentine appeared unfazed by the hostility. He always had a reputation for being able to keep his cool in stressful situations before the war, and it was good to see that he hadn't lost that trait over the years.

"I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for you two-timing-dame, Skinny. You ought to tell her to write home more often." the synth said calmly.

"Aww… poor little Valentine." The bat wielding bunny began. "Ashamed you got beat up by a bunny? I'll just run back home to daddy, shall I?" she said, giving the synth the evil eye. She turned her attention to the other members of the party, staring down Nick, but widening her eyes at the sight of Judy and Piper.

"Judy? Piper? Wha-What are you two doing here?" the bunny said, having lost all the fire that was in her voice a second ago.

"Darla? Is that you?" Judy said, giving the other rabbit a questionable look. "What the hell are you doing here?"

The dark furred bunny clearly wasn't expecting to find anyone she actually knew on the other side of the door, other than Valentine. She lowered the bat in her hands, seeming much less willing to use it.

"I-I… Skinny's taking good care of me. He's making sure I get the treatment I deserve."

"The treatment you deserve?" Piper began. "Darla, you live in the Upper Stands. You've had everything you've ever wanted handed to you on a silver plater. Just because you probably got into another fight with your dad doesn't mean your life's gonna be ruined forever. You just need to learn to control your temper."

"What will ruin your life is if you stay here with these thugs. You have a home to go back to. You don't need to throw your life away like this." Judy said in a very sincere, caring voice. It seemed that she obviously knew this bunny, maybe grew up around her in Diamond City. Judy wouldn't be one to willingly let someone she knew die, for any reason. Well, she wouldn't willingly let that happen to anyone, even if she didn't know them. That was just the kind of mammal she was.

Lucky for everyone, their words seemed to have a strong impact on Darla, as she dropped the bat to the floor, shaking her head.

"You're right!" she said. "What am I doing, I've gotten all mixed up!" she moved closer to them, arousing a bit of suspicion in Nick. "Please, take me back home!" she said to Judy.

"Darla? Wha-What're you doin?" Malone said, staring distraughtly at the rabbit. She turned to face him, now only a few feet away from Judy.

"I'm going home, Skinny. Where I should have been all this time. Judy's right. This is goodbye for us." Judy then stepped forward, placing a paw on the black rabbit's shoulder, then putting herself in between Malone and Darla.

 _'That's just her I guess. Always trying to help out everybody. Even the ones trying to kill us.'_ Nick thought. He really did have to admire that about her. After seeing the kind of stuff mammals could bring themselves to do in this world, it was extremely refreshing to see someone with a genuinely selfless attitude.

The tapir didn't look too pleased though.

"Oh, c'mon, Nicky! You cost me my men, now you and your friends cost me my girl?" Malone said.

"My friends here just did you a favor, Skinny. You always did have bad taste in women. No offense, Darla." Valentine said, and the black bunny sent him a scowl. "Now that she won't be feeding your temper anymore, maybe you'll see reason and let us walk. You still owe me for a week in the hole."

"You smug, overconfident ass..." the tapir said through gritted teeth, letting out a muffled swear as he though over his options.

"Alright!" he yelled after a long few seconds of thinking. "You get to the count of ten! I still see any of your faces after that, I'm gunning you all down!"

They all moved quickly, with Valentine leading the way, and Judy staying close to Darla, as she would have no way to defend herself once outside. When they were out of the Vault, Nick for a moment considered closing the cog shaped door, sealing the Triggermen inside. He quickly decided against that, as it would not only be cruel, but they would most likely get out anyway, as they probably had a spare pip-boy in there somewhere.

Valentine lead them to an open manhole, rather than going out the station entrance. Once they were outside, they all took a quick breather, being very glad to be back above ground.

"Ah, look at that Commonwealth sky." Valentine began. "Never thought anything so naturally ominous could end up looking so inviting…"

It was still light out, and Nick's estimate on the time had seemed accurate, as it was 4:14 according to his pip-boy.

"Thank's for getting me out, everyone." Valentine continued, now looking over their little group they had going. "How'd you guys know where to find me anyway? Not many mammals knew where I went."

"Ellie found out." Piper said. "Apparently she actually got shot trying to find out where you were dragged off to."

"Oh God. Is she…"

"She's fine, don't worry. Just took a hit in her arm." Judy reassured him.

"Still, I think she deserves a raise after all that. Not every day you find an employe willing to take a bullet for there boss." He said before turning to face Nick directly. "Now about your son. I think we should get started on this as soon as possible. After all, you did get me out of there. Once we get back to Diamond City, we should head to my office, give you a chance to sit down and clear your head."

"Yes please. That sounds amazing." Nick said, before they all moved into the streets, headed for Diamond City.

None of that went how Nick had expected it to go. Not Valentine, not that many Triggermen, and not a tapir with a bunny fetish.

Still, it was an important milestone for him in this new world.

He was one step closer to find Shaun.


	18. Getting a Clue

_**Zootopia is property of Disney** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda** _

* * *

The return to Diamond City was, thankfully, nowhere near as eventful as the trip to Vault 114. They didn't run into any raiders or scavengers, nor did they nearly enter a building filled with feral ghouls. With the combined knowledge of Judy and Valentine, the gang knew exactly which spots to avoid.

They dropped Darla off at her parents' house first when they got back. Her father was very happy to see her safe and sound, but nonetheless ensured her that there would be some harsh punishment. Darla made a bit of a scene about it, but Judy had reminded her that she was getting off _very_ easily, and that if it had not been for her and Piper she could very well be dead.

Piper was the next to bid them farewell, saying that she needed to get working on the article about "The Fox Out of Time". She also told Valentine that she would need a statement, not only for the article she was going to write about the synth's own little adventure, but about Nick as well. He knew the fox before the war after all, so it made sense that she would want the synth to tell her a little more about him.

After that, the remaining three made their way to the detective agency, Nick hoping desperately that they could _finally_ start making some real progress soon. These past few days had been so filled with emotions and adventure for him that he was beginning to think that he was just a character in some epic tale. Of course **that** wasn't possible though. This was _real life_.

"Ellie? You here?" Valentine said as he opened the door. She wasn't at the front desk, but her voice was quickly heard coming from the thin hallway to their right, followed by frantic footsteps.

"Nick?!" she exclaimed. Soon the squirrel came running down the hallway with a bandage on her left arm, her face lighting up as the synth came into view.

"Nick! Oh, it's really you!" She said, her words oozing with relief. Valentine let out a small chuckle.

"Well, It's kinda hard to mistake this mug for anyone else." he said, gesturing to his face, and causing Ellie to give out her own short chuckle.

"You keep laughing at death, some day death's gonna laugh back." she said, shaking her head slightly. Valentine turned to face Nick and Judy.

"Not as long as I've got a few friends to back me up." he said, causing the fox and rabbit to exchange a quick glance.

 _'Well, I think the word "friend" is a bit of an overstatement, but whatever.'_ Nick thought. When they looked back at Valentine, he was staring at Ellie's wound.

"How's the arm treating you?" the synth asked.

"Oh, it's fine. The shot barely grazed me." she reassured him.

"Regardless of how minor it was, any employee who takes a bullet for me deserves a raise. But we'll talk about that later. For now, we have our vulpine friend here who has a case for us." he said, looking at Nick.

"Absolutely. You know, you seem to have knack for this kind of work." she said to Nick. "This old synth here could sure use a new partner, if you were interested in putting on the detective hat.".

"Whoa, Ellie. I don't think he's necessarily the type of guy you'd want looking through you personal belongings. Besides, having two Nicks around the office would just get confusing.

"Ah come one, Valentine. You know I wasn't a thief. I've never stolen from anyone." Nick said with slight smug in his voice.

"Wait, how would you know that about him?" Ellie asked, turning to Valentine, who just shook his head.

"I'll explain that one to you later. Right now, he needs our help." he said, before turning back to Nick. "Take a seat, make yourself comfortable. What can you tell me?"

Valentine moved behind his desk, while Ellie climbed on top of it, her tiny clipboard in hand. Nick sat down in the chair on his side of the desk, while Judy stood, leaning back against the door behind him.

"We're looking for my son, Shaun. He was taken from me in Vault 111, where we were frozen. He's a red fox, obviously, and he's less than a year old." his eyes focused away from the detective, staring off into space. "Why would anyone take him?"

"That's the million dollar question." Valentine started, while Ellie scribbled something down on her clipboard. "Why your son in particular, and not you or anyone else in that Vault? Makes it seem like whoever did this had more of an agenda. And why kidnap a baby in the first place? A child takes a lot of care and attention, after all. Add onto it that you were sealed up in a Vault, and that means that this probably wasn't some random act or off-the-wall decision."

"So you think this was planned?" Judy asked behind him.

"That's what it's looking like. The other question is who would be able to pull off a job like that? Kidnapping a baby from a secure Vault while managing to keep the parent alive. That'd be a tough one for just about anyone to pull off."

"Do you have any idea who could've done it?" Nick asked.

"Well I doubt it was raiders. Those lunatics are barely organized enough to take down caravans, let alone a job like this. And Super Mutants, they would've just killed you, and the kid most likely."

"Maybe it was the Gunners?" Ellie said, taking her eyes off the clipboard.

"Gunners?" Nick asked. With all the various threats in the Commonwealth, it was getting a bit overwhelming to continue to hear about more.

"Mercenaries." Judy spat. "They're the assholes that attacked Quincy. They're well funded, well organized, and don't care about anything except getting paid. More than a few Minutemen left to join up with them after everything happened."

Nick was saddened to hear this. It seems as though not many mammals cared for the overall well-being of the Commonwealth… but at least he knew someone who did.

"I wouldn't doubt it was them. They've pulled of stranger jobs than this one. But why would they need a kid? It's not like they're lacking for 'employees'. Only other group I could think of that would've been capable of doing this would be the Institute, and that's not a very comforting thought." Valentine said.

This was the second time someone had mentioned the Institute, and how they could've taken Shaun. First Piper during the interview, and now Valentine. Based on what he's heard about them so far, it seemed possible, but what reason would this shadowy organization have to take his son?

"You think the Institute is responsible for this?" he asked the detective.

"Well, they're the boogeymen of the Commonwealth." Valentine began. "Something goes wrong, everyone blames them. Easy to see why. Those early canine model synths strip whole towns for parts, killing everything in their way. Then you got the newer models that can be any mammal, can't tell the difference between a real one and the ones the Institute makes. They infiltrate cities and pull strings from the shadows. Worst of all, no one knows why they do it, what their plan is, or where they are. Not even me, and I'm a synth myself. A discarded prototype anyway."

"A prototype?" Nick wondered. "What do you mean?"

"You might've noticed this if you ran into any of those early canine ones out there, but they don't exactly fit in with the crowd. All the metal and plastic makes them stand out, and their personality is pretty much the same as a protectron. The newer ones actually have emotions, likes and dislikes, stuff like that. I'm somewhere in between, with the body of the former, the mind of the later. But we should move on, all this speculation is getting us off track. Let's focus on what you saw. What did the kidnappers look like?" Valentine finally finished.

"There was a feline dressed in uh… I think it was a kind of hazard suit. The weasel had… some sort of metal brace on his left arm." Nick said, thinking heavily about the moment inside the Vault.

"Maybe some kind of improvised armor? Lot's of hired guns do that to look tough." Valentine said.

"What about the hazard suit? Not many mercs could afford something like that." Judy said.

"It is interesting. Certainly fancier than what most of them wear. What else can you tell me about them?" the synth said.

"I'll never forget that bastard's voice." Nick began, his brow furrowed and his voice angry. "Low and rough. Like sandpaper across your face. He came right up to me. Brown fur, scar across his left eye."

"Wait, the weasel did? No… it couldn't be… You didn't hear the name 'Kellogg' at all, did you?"

"No. They never said their names." Nick said, still mad from thinking about the weasel. His spirits were rising however, as it seemed that Valentine possibly had a lead.

"Hmm, it's way too big of a coincidence." The detective said, before turing to the squirrel on the desk.

"Ellie, what notes do we have about the Kellogg case?"

"Let me check." she responded, hopping down from atop the desk and climbing up one of the filing cabinets, her tail flicking as she opened it, and pulled out a folder. She brought it back to the desk, handing it to Valentine, who placed the file down. She then climbed up and began reading.

"Let's see here…" She started, before her eyes widened. "The description matches! Brown fur. Scar. Reputation for dangerous mercenary work, but no one knows who his employer is."

"And he bought a house here in town about two month ago, right? And he had a young fox kid with him, didn't he?"

"Yeah, that's right. The house in the abandoned West Stands. The fox with him was around ten years old. Claimed he was the kid of an old friend he was looking after."

"Wait, you mean he's here in town?!" Nick yelled, practically jumping out of his seat. If this weasel was in town, and he had Shaun, he was about to rush there as fast as he could.

But the other thing lingered in his mind. A ten year old fox? That couldn't be Shaun, he wasn't even one year old yet. Had that much time passed between him being taken and Nick getting out?

Ten years that he would never get to experience with his son?

Ten years where he wasn't able to raise him right?

"They both vanished not too long ago, if I'm remembering right, but that house is still there…" Valentine said, lowering his head as he thought. "Let's you and I take a walk over to Kellogg's last know address. See if we can snoop out where he went."

"I'm coming too." Judy said, as the synth got up from his chair. She gave Nick a small reassuring smile, which he returned.

"Wouldn't hurt to have an extra gun on hand, just in case." Valentine said.

"Security doesn't really go to that part of town, but you three should still be careful." Ellie said.

"I always am." Valentine responded with a quick smile.

They moved out of the agency, heading toward the staircase that lead them up to the West Stands. There were only a few houses up there, and they all seemed to be abandoned by the looks of it. Before they moved up the staircase, Valentine stuck out his arm, stopping Nick and Judy.

"I didn't want Ellie to hear this, but I thought you two should know. Everything I dug up about Kellogg before his disappearance is bad news."

"I've faced more than a few mercenaries in my time out there. What makes this one any different?" Judy asked.

"He's more than just a mercenary. He's a professional. Quick, clean, thorough. Has no enemies, because they're all dead… except for you." the synth said, pointing at Nick. "But nine to one odds says he's our mammal. It's more than just you identifying his distinguishing features. The MO is all him as well. Not many mercs in the Commonwealth could do what he did. So if it turns out he's the one we're after, just be careful." he finished, and stared up the staircase. Nick and Judy quickly followed.

When they reached the house at the back of the West Stands he stopped them again, eyeing the door.

"Here we are. You two keep an eye out, would ya? Let's see if I can get this open" Valentine said, pulling out a bobby pin from his coat pocket. Nick and Judy turned to face the city, watching for any guards coming their way.

 _'She probably doesn't like the fact that we're breaking into someones house, even if it is for a legitimate reason.'_ Nick thought. She seemed to understand though, and didn't express any hesitation about them doing this.

"That's one heck of a lock… Got something to hide, Kellogg?" Valentine said as he fiddled with the lock. Not long after, a small snap was heard.

"Damn. Why don't you give it a try, Wilde? Didn't that raccoon friend of yours teach you how to pick locks back in the day?"

"You mean Cooper? Yeah, he did, but not so I could break into places. I was peruser of the art of locking oneself out of their apartment." Nick replied, earning a huff from the detective. The fox moved up to the door, taking his own bobby pin out of his trench coat, and attempting the lock for himself.

Unfortunately, his friend had never taught him this much. This lock was way too good for Nick to be able to crack.

"This thing is beyond me." he said, standing up and turning to the others.

"Huh. Guess we'll need to find the key." Valentine said, turning to face the rest of the city. "You see that platform in the distance? Near the city entrance?" he said, pointing to the lift that led up to one of the press boxes. "That's the elevator to the Mayor's office, why don't you go ask around there? I'll stay here and see if I can jimmy this lock.

"Sounds good. You stay here, Judy. I've got an idea, but I think I'll need to be alone for it to be convincing." Nick said, and Judy nodded. Nick began to move back down the stairs, ready to get that damn door open.

But first, he needed to get into character.

_'Let's see, you're trying to get a house in Diamond City…'_

* * *

Judy watched Nick walk through the city, eventually reaching the lift and pressing it's button, raising him upwards to the Mayor's office. She didn't know what he had planed, but she was sure whatever it was, he could pull it off. He was quite good at sweet talking.

"So, we never really got the chance to talk on the walk back. How's the Minuteman life treating you?" Valentine asked.

"Well, I'll be honest with you, we've certainly seen better days, but we're far from finished. Ben and the rest of them are up in Sanctuary right now, rebuilding."

"Sanctuary, eh? New place they founded?" he asked, and She nodded. "That's good to hear. You Minutemen always did do the Commonwealth proud, at least up until recently. You considered asking our con-man friend to join up with you?"

"Who, Nick?" she asked. She hadn't put a whole lot of though into that, as she was more focused on helping him find his son than recruiting more mammals to their cause. "I mean, not really. We've had our minds on other things recently."

"Well if it means anything, he seems to be surviving pretty well out here in this world. I doubt many back from our time would've lasted a single day. That's got to count for something." Valentine said.

 _'Surviving. Yeah, all because of that damn thing that's eating him up inside.'_ He hadn't brought it up with her since they first left Sanctuary, but she could tell it was still bothering him. She had peeked over at him a few times when they'd gotten themselves into a firefight, and she noticed the look on his face, showing anger, but also concern for himself.

"That reminds me..." she began, not really sure how to phrase this to Valentine. "Nick's been having some… issues. Involving killing other mammals."

"I can understand that. I was the same way at first. I didn't want to kill _anyone_ , but that's just a thing you have to get used to when you live out here." He said, and she quickly shook her head.

"No, not like that. He feels guilty, but it's… different. Look, do you think you could, I don't know… talk to him about it? I'm not saying you need to do it now, but just later on. You're from his time, so maybe you have some similar experiences."

"Alright, Hopps. I'll see what's bugging him later. For now though, I think we'd better get out of the way." he said pointing at the lift to the Mayor's office, now lowering with Lionheart and Nick inside, who was looking at them, making a gesture for them to leave while the lion looked off in the other direction, speaking to him about something.

* * *

"And here we are Mr. Wilde." Lionheart said as he unlocked Kelloggs door and stepped inside. "As I said, this home is currently owned by one of our residents, but he hasn't showed up in quite some time, and at a certain point if the rent isn't paid, we can deffinetly sell you this house. And I just wanted to again thank you so much for considering moving to Diamond City, we hope you'll stay here with us.

 _'And thank you for letting me inside this assholes home.'_ Nick thought, before resuming his act.

"Oh, you're certainly welcome, Mayor Lionheart. I can't think of a better place in all the Commonwealth to call home!" That part was actually true, but he still played it up a bit to get on the lion's good side.

"I'm sure! Now, I have some matters to attend to back at the office, so can I trust you to bring the key back once you're done looking around?"

"You betcha. Thanks again for the opportunity!" he said as the lion headed out the door.

"You're very welcome!" the mayor said, before closing the door behind him.

_'Alright, Kellogg. What've you done with my son?'_

He started searching the upstairs area first, a small wooden platform that held a dresser and a bed on it, as well as a sleeping bag on the floor. He couldn't find anything that could help him there, so he moved downstairs to search.

As he was looking through the weasel's desk, he heard the front door open. He jumped at the sound, but was relieved to see a familiar bunny walk inside, along with a synth in a detective's outfit.

"Scare me a little more next time, guys. I thought you were Lionheart coming back to check up on me."

"Sorry, pal. How about we fire a shot into the ceiling the next time we come in? Would that be an improvement?" Valentine asked with small smile, earning a short laugh from Judy.

"Absolutely." he said dryly. "Now help me look around. There's got to be..." He stopped speaking, noticing a small button on the underside of the desk. He pushed it, one of the wall's near the door opened up, revealing some kind of storage room inside.

"Well, that's one way to hide a room." Valentine said, taking a few steps inside. Nick and Judy quickly followed.

"Let's see here…" Nick said as he inspected the armchair in the center of the room. "Gwinnett Stout Beer… Forty-four caliber bullets… And cigars. 'San Francisco Sunlights.' Interesting stuff he's got back here."

"Won't lead us anywhere on it's own though. I'd say we could follow the scent of all his little goodies right back to him, but my nose isn't exactly what it used to be. And I doubt you nose is good enough for this kind of job. We're gonna need a wolf with a good set of nostrils on 'em to go any further.

Nick thought hard for a moment, trying to figure out where they could possibly find such a wolf. The answer soon came to him, as he remembered his night spent in the Dugout Inn.

"I think I know just the guy."


	19. Part of a Complete Breakfast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick apology for the delay in updating. College takes up a lot of free time.

_**Zootopia is roperty of Disney** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda** _

* * *

Nick had to take a moment to comprehend the scene in front of him. They had just gotten down into one of the old highways that led into the Mass Pike Tunnel, and what they found there was grizzly. A leopard laid still on top of the hood of a rusted out car, its right arm detached and lying unceremoniously on the ground. A sheep was lying face down on the concrete, it's white wool stained red in several places. A buffalo's body was resting up against the back wall, it's legs completely blown off, with only blood splatters and little chunks of meat showing any evidence that they ever existed.

If Kellogg did all this, then he was a force to be reckoned with.

"Damn. We got a lot of scents around here. Let me see if I can find anything." The timberwolf, Hawthorne said before he began sniffing out the scene.

After they finished inspecting Kellogg's house, they had gone to the Dugout Inn and hired the brown wolf to help sniff out the kidnapper. Nick had remembered him saying something about sniffing mammals out as one of the jobs he did, so he thought that Hawthorne would be the mammal they were looking for. Nick didn't have the caps to pay him, but luckily Valentine had offered to foot the bill, as well as continue traveling with them to take down Kellogg. In the synth's own words, he now owed the fox more than just a few caps.

Judy moved to the other side of the highway, looking for anything that might give them a hint as to where the weasel went to next. Valentine followed her hoping to help in any way he could. Nick just stood there. He'd seen some horrible stuff these past few days, but for some reason this on just made him freeze. This wasn't one group's doing, it was one mammal's. That thought terrified him.

"Hawthorne! Check this thing out!" Judy yelled behind him. She held a bloodied rag in her paws. The odds were good that it belonged to Kellogg, as dead bodies don't usually try to patch themselves up.

The timberwolf moved up to the rag that small bunny held in her paws, and began heavily sniffing the cloth. Nick himself probably would've been able to pick up something from the rag as well, but there was no way he would've been as good as Hawthorne. So far he'd managed to take them out of the city, into the countryside, along some railroad tracks, and down into this highway, all on nothing more than a couple of cigars. Unless the wolf was bullshitting them completely, he certainly had one of the best noses out there.

"Oh yeah, I got something." he said as he moved forward and sniffed the air. "It's not much, but I've found mammals on less than this. We should get moving."

They moved on from the highway, heading north along the old railroad tracks. The trees along this area were just like the ones Nick had seen outside of Concord. Dead, charred, with empty branches swaying in the breeze. It still depressed him, even after all he'd seen of the world these past few days.

"Hold up." Hawthorne said, sticking out his arm in front of the group. "We got Lurks ahead."

"What?" Nick asked. He was genuinely confused as to what the mercenary was talking about, as he didn't see anything in front of them other than an old railroad station way off in the distance.

"You see those lumps sticking out of the ground there?" Hawthorne said as he pointed ahead of them, just to the right of the tracks. Nick did see the two small bumps in the ground he was talking about, but he wouldn't have thought anything about them otherwise "Those are Mirelurks. When they're not close to water they like to dig themselves into the ground, surprise anything that gets too close. Watch this, and make sure you aim for the torso. You won't do jack hitting their shell." He pulled out his .44 revolver and fired a shot directly into on of the lumps.

Sure enough, two giant crab-like creatures emerged from the ground, quickly eyeing the group of mammals that had fired at them, and began charging. Their claws were probably larger than Nick's entire head, so the last thing he wanted was for them to get too close.

The group all fired a few shots directly into the abdomen of each of the large crustaceans, and dropped them before they could get within ten feet of them.

"God. Did the radiation make _anything_ less frightening?" Nick said, earning a chuckle from Judy.

"I think we've already established that no, nothing good comes from radiation. As long as you don't let those things get too close, you'll be fine." she said, and the group continued walking down the tracks.

When they finally reached that station they saw in the distance earlier, Hawthorne led them down a set of stairs, leading them towards an old tunnel. When the reached the bottom, they eyed a pair of small legs sticking out of a sleeping bag off on the other side of the small room that connected to the tunnel. Hawthorne approached slowly, his revolver in hand, ready to strike if need be. When he was within a few feet, he lowered his gun.

"Just a decoy. Come here." Hawthorne said, gesturing them to come forward. "You see that? This guy may know that he's being tailed. You don't set up traps like this for no reason."

Nick peeked inside and immediately saw what he was talking about. The legs that they'd saw was nothing but a mannequin laid down on the sleeping bag, and sitting snugly against it was a some kind of landmine. Kellogg was definitely taking precautions here, so they'd have to be careful from now on.

They moved on out of the tunnel, finding another cigar with the weasel's scent on it and continued forward. As they approached a bridge leading across the Charles river, Judy nudged him in his left side.

"Hey, you doing okay?" She asked, looking up at him with a concerned face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" he said. He hadn't done anything odd in the last couple hours they'd been traveling, or at least he thought he hadn't, so he wondered what she was talking about.

"You looked a little… off, back at the highway. That was a rough thing to see, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was. What really got to me was that _one_ little weasel did all that. It makes me a little, you know… scared, nervous, something like that."

"Oh, come on, Slick. Where's that confidence you had going earlier? You don't think we're gonna kick this guy's ass once we get to him? He doesn't stand a chance against all of us." she said, smirking up at him in a way that he couldn't help but laugh at.

"Okay, okay. I'll try to stay in high spirits, Carrots." he said, returning his gaze off into the distance.

' _She's probably right.'_ he thought.

He really wouldn't get anywhere fast if he didn't at least have a little confidence for determination in him. If this guy had Shaun somewhere nearby, then he needed to be at his best to face him.

Unfortunately the world seemed to want to wear him down at the moment, as the bridge ahead of them had several feral ghouls walking around it, with more no doubt hiding somewhere amongst the clutter of trucks and cars at the far end of the bridge.

' _Fantastic. Just what we needed.'_

* * *

' _Well this isn't much better.'_ Nick thought, as he ducked down behind a knocked over filing cabinet, avoiding the light blue laser shots coming from across the dirty, worn down hall.

Around twenty minutes after their brief encounter with the feral ghouls on the bridge, Hawthorne had led them to Fort Hagen. The roads leading up to the place all had old checkpoints at them, as back then they only wanted "authorized" people to get inside the small base. They wouldn't be able to stop anyone now of course, as the only security left were a few turrets on top of the fort that were easily dispatched, and maybe a few bloatflies, if you could really count them as security.

The front entrance was boarded up and blocked of by cinder blocks and sandbags, but Hawthorne was certain that Kellogg was somewhere inside the fort, saying that the scent was stronger here than anywhere else they'd been so far. It would take a bit more than barricading himself inside an old building to stop Nick from finding his son, so they tried to find an alternate entrance. After they discovered some scaffolding behind the fort that lead them up to the roof, they found a hatch that dropped them off inside the building. From there, things should've been simple. Find Kellogg, get Shaun, get out.

And then the synths showed up.

Kellogg had a group of the Institute's synthetic mammals protecting him. It was beginning to seem more like the shadowy organization was involved in this by the minute.

Nick and the others came under fire almost as soon as they walked inside, the canine shaped robots quickly took notice of the group that was now inside the worn-down military base. Luckily, only a few of them were patrolling near the hatch they came through so they were able to easily take them out of commission. But those weren't the only ones inside. The entire base was filled with them, even having some automated turrets around a few of the corners. So far they'd all been able to avoid being hit by anything, but they were only on the first floor, and still needed to search the basement, since Kellogg would most likely be making his final stand there.

Nick peaked above his cover, firing his laser rifle into the chest of one of the synths ahead of them. It flinched as the shots hit it, but was otherwise unaffected. As it turned and started spraying its automatic laser pistol at the fox, Nick ducked back down below the filing cabinet while the others took turns firing. The next time he peeked up, Nick saw the synth's right arm lying on the ground, it's palm open and it's pistol a few feet away.

This didn't stop the synth, as any lack of limbs were more of an inconvenience for it, rather than a life threatening dilemma. It rushed forward, hopping over the filing cabinet and winding up its left arm in an almost comical manner, before releasing a gut wrenching punch straight into Nick's chest. The force of the blow sent him back several feet, with the wind being knocked out of him as he hit the wall behind him.

The synth moved forward to strike again, but stopped when Judy aimed her shotgun straight at the mechanical mammal's head, sending it flying off its body, which then collapsed rigidly to the floor. The others continued firing at a couple more synths down the hall, as Nick attempted to regain his breath. Soon the gunfire stopped, and Hawthorne walked over to him and held out his paw.

"You okay, Wilde?" the timberwolf said as Nick grabbed his paw. The synth's punch had hurt like hell, but not enough to put him out of the fight.

"Yeah, I'm good." the fox replied with a cough as he was pulled to his feet. "Those things are more dangerous up close than I would've thought."

"They're a threat from any distance, keep that in mind. I didn't think I'd be escorting you guys through a bunch of synths when I took this job, but you've already paid me, so I intend to get this done."

Nick just nodded. He looked over to see Judy looking through some of the old desks, while Valentine was inspecting a terminal at the center of the long room ahead of them.

There was a thick layer of dust over almost everything in the building, creating a hazy atmosphere inside. Many of the interior walls were torn down completely, creating new paths through the building, some of which they already had gone through to get to where they were now. Any wall that were fortunate enough to still be standing had the wallpaper peeling off it, increasing Nick's unease inside the fort.

"What're you two looking for?" Nick asked as he walked up to Judy. She turned to look at him almost immediately, while the synth detective still stared at the terminal screen.

"Just trying to find anything that might be valuable. Ruins like these can hold a fortune if you know where to look, isn't that right Hawthorne?" She looked behind Nick as she yelled the wolf's name.

"Without a doubt. Circuitry, duct tape, Wonderglue, that kind of stuff can get you quite a few caps in Diamond City. I'd start looking around If I were you." Hawthorne said, as he himself started to look through some of the old containers scattered around.

' _Guess I'll have to start scavenging.'_ He was severely low on caps right now. If he didn't have Judy or Valentine with him, he wouldn't even be able to find food or a place to stay once he got back to the city. He made a quick note to look around for any materials that could be useful.

"You guys keep looking for any knick-knacks that'll get you through the day." Valentine began. "I'm just about to get that door down there open." A few seconds later, and the small armory across the room opened.

"Damn. Didn't know you were so good with tech, Valentine." Nick said.

"Well, I was the handyman for Diamond City back when I first moved in. Plus, you usually pick up a knack for computers when you are one yourself."

"A fair point." Nick replied with a chuckle.

The armory contained a few ammo boxes inside, each one revealing a few goodies for each member of the party. Nick and Judy spit the fusion cells for their laser weapons between them, and they each received some ammo for Nick's 10mm pistol, and Judy's shotgun. A pack of .45 caliber ammo sat conveniently on a table for Valentine, while Hawthorne got some 5.56 caliber shells for his assault rifle, and a couple of additional .44 rounds.

Restocked and reloaded, the group moved onto the elevator at the far end of the room. This would hopefully lead them downstairs, as any doors that lead to the basement had already been barricaded, or caved in. Luckily, the elevator still worked, and brought them downstairs to the lower levels.

The area they got out at looked to be some kind of maintenance area, with pipes running along the walls and ceiling of the long, thin corridor. The metal double-doors at the far end were opened by two synths, one holding a laser rifle while the other just charged forward, lacking any kind of weapon or armor. They all quickly dropped the unarmed one, and the other synth soon followed after it peaked one too many times around the corner.

As they moved forward, a low, rough voice came over the fort's intercom.

" **Well if it isn't my old friend, the frozen tv dinner. Last time we met, you were cozying up to the peas and apple cobbler. Sorry your house has been a wreck for two hundred years, but I don't need a roommate. Leave"** the voice said before the intercom shut off.

"Yep. That's Kellogg alright." Valentine said. "Looks like the caps we paid you was worth it, Hawthorne."

"Hey, pay for the best, get the best." the wolf replied.

Nick was only half listening, as he was too angry right now to think about anything else. The bastard who took his son, who maybe even killed every other mammal in Vault 111 was here, inside the old fort. Nick let out a low growl as he charged forward.

"Woah, Nick! Wait up!" Judy said, chasing after the enraged fox.

"We've got no time to waste, Carrots. This asshole has my son, and he's gonna give him back. Even if I have to kill him." Nick said, still moving ahead.

"Well, let's think about this. What if Shaun isn't here? How would we find him otherwise? I know what this guy did to you was unforgivable, but we need to be rational here. We should kill him only if it's absolutely necessary."

Nick took a moment to think over her words, and determined that as much as he didn't like it, she was right. If Shaun isn't with him, they needed a way to find out where this weasel sent him, otherwise all hope was lost. He let out a sigh.

"You're right. I should think about…" He was cut off by the intercom starting up again.

" **Never expected you to come knocking at my door. Gave you fifty-fifty odds of making it to Diamond City. After that? Figured the Commonwealth would chew you up like Mirelurk jerky. But that's not important now. You're here to kill me. Now, you're pissed off. I get it, I do. But whatever you hope to accomplish in here? It's not gonna go your way. But hey, It's not too late. Stop. Turn around with your little entourage and leave. You have that option. Not a lot of mammals can say that."** Kellogg said before once again shutting down the intercom.

' _Okay, you're asking for it now, buddy.'_

"Whatever happens down here, _if_ it comes down to it, _I'm_ gonna be the one to take the shot." Nick said.

"Are you kidding? I've been saving a shot on this baby just for you if you want it." Judy said, holding her shotgun in her paws. "Just say the word, and it's yours."

"Heh, I think you'll know when the time comes." he said, smirking at her as the group continued onwards.

Heading through another set of double doors, they could see the fort's command center to their left, its lights off and heavy reinforced doors sealed shut. Mowing down another set of synths, which at this point were barely able to put up much of a fight against the group, they found their way past the living quarters, past the cafeteria, past more easily destroyed synths, and into a small, improvised bedroom that was likely for Kellogg. The bed and containers inside where white and clean, clearly not a part of the original room. Hawthorne let out a whistle as he entered the room.

"Hot damn. This guy's got some high tech stuff in here. Laser pistols, a Stealth Boy, all this other crap that I don't even know what it is. Is this weasel packing or what?" he asked.

"He's apparently pretty dangerous. We'll be fine, just…" Nick began before being once again cut off by the intercom.

" **Okay. You made it. Here's the deal. I'll order my synths to stand down, and tell you what I know. All you have to do is come in here alone, leave your friends in there while we have a little chat. You do that, and all my little secrets are yours. You don't, and you'll all be dead before you have a chance to regret it. Think carefully."** Kellogg said before finally shutting off the intercom.

"You can't go in there alone! He'll probably shoot you the second you walk in! We can take this guy, look at what we've done so far!" Judy said, eagerly moving towards the door leading to Kellogg.

"You know, they say nothing is more dangerous than a cornered animal. I wouldn't doubt that this weasel is willing to play dirty, but walking in there all alone isn't the solution we're looking for. We need some kind of alternative." Valentine said.

Nick scanned over the room, trying to think of any way he could get the information, while not exposing himself so easily to Kellogg.

' _Let's see… they could just stand outside the doorway… no, that'd be too obvious. Uhmm… Head back around and fire through the grates? Not enough time dammit… Maybe…'_

An idea suddenly appeared in Nick's mind. The Stealth Boy on the table. A piece of high tech military equipment before the war, that allowed its user to remain completely invisible for over a minute. That could be used to get one of them inside with Nick. It didn't completely eliminate the risk that they would be discovered, as the wearer still made noise. It'd have to be someone small, and light on their feet.

"Hey Carrots... I think I'm gonna let you have that shot after all."

* * *

As Nick opened the doors leading into the command center, the lights flashed on one at a time, and two synths popped out from behind some of the large terminals covering the room. After they looked at Nick for a brief moment, a small, brown weasel came into view. He wore a leather jacket, with a metal brace on it's left arm, and a .44 caliber magnum revolver in its right paw.

Kellogg. The mammal responsible for all this madness.

"There he is. The most resilient mammal in the Commonwealth. Funny, I thought I held that honor." The weasel said smugly.

Nick felt the rage building in him, but it softened when he felt a small paw touch his back. He knew it was Judy, and if he looked back now, it would only give the small bunny away. He just hoped she stuck to the plan. Move past him, find a hiding spot, and be ready to fire. Nick took a step forward.

"Woah there, foxy. I think this'll all go a lot smoother if we keep some distance between us, alright? Nothing personal, just… well I guess it _is_ something personal, but you get what I mean. Anyway, here we are. Funny, huh?" Kellogg said, that low voice still sounding smug and overconfident.

"I'm gonna cut right to it." Nick said through snarling teeth. "No small talk, no games, no bullshit. Where. Is. Shaun?"

"Hmph. Buddy, I'm just a puppet like you. My stage is a little bigger, that's all."

"What the _fuck_ did I just say!? No bullshit. Just answer me!" Nick said, his rage growing.

"Hey, calm down. I can see why you're mad. Shaun's a good kid. A little older than you were expecting, but I'm guessing you already knew that, eh? Only... he's not here. He's with the mammals pulling the strings."

"Where is he!? Tell me!"

"What's the cliche? 'So close, yet so far away?' That's Shuan. He's safe, he's happy, he's in a loving home. The Institute."

' _God dammit.'_ Nick thought. It was true. These guys that were terrorizing everyone else in the Commonwealth had taken Shaun, and nobody had any idea where they really were. They had an army of synthetic mammals at their disposal, ready to fight to the death at their master's whim.

But it would take more than that to stop Nick.

"So where is it, huh? How do I get in?" the enraged fox asked. The weasel laughed, only increasing Nick's anger.

"Heh. Haven't you been paying attention? You don't find the Institute. The Institute finds you. You open the closet, it's just a closet. You can never find the monster that hides inside. Not until it jumps out at you. But I think we've been talking long enough. We both know how this ends. Thanks for keeping your friends safe back there. I'll let them leave once we're done here. You ready?"

' _Oh, more than you know motherfucker.'_

"Heh. You didn't see? I actually brought a friend of mine along. Say hi, Judy."

The rabbit uncloaked to Kellogg's left, and the weasel turned to her frozen and wide eyed, staring down a shotgun barrel.

"Hi." She said, before pulling the trigger, sending bits of the weasel's head flying across the room.

The synths were immediate in their response to the attack, but by the time their weapons were raised, Judy had already fired the other slug into the closer of the two, while Nick blasted away its counterpart.

In the past few days, Nick had experience a lot of emotions. Anger, grief, sorrow, despair, among many others. Whenever he had to kill he always did it with even the smallest amount of regret, which always grew thanks to that feeling he got whenever he pulled the trigger.

But seeing one of the bastards that ruined his life taken down?

He didn't regret a damn thing about that.


	20. Long I Stood There

_**Zootopia is property of Disney** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda** _

* * *

Several feelings warred for supremacy in Judy's head as she looked through the old desks inside Fort Hagen's command center. On one hand, she was overjoyed; the bastard that had stolen Nick's son from him was now nothing more than a few meaty chunks from the neck up, so he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else.

On the other hand, Judy was still saddened that they still hadn't found Nick's son. She had hoped that after all they'd been through these past couple of days they would at least be rewarded with something, a location to go by if nothing else. But the issue was they now knew where Shaun was, but they didn't know exactly how to get there. Nobody in the Commonwealth knew where the Institute really was, or... at least no one alive did. Kellogg probably knew, but it was highly unlikely he would be talking much now.

Another feeling lingered inside Judy, but she couldn't tell exactly what it was. Hatred? The need for revenge? It was a feeling unfamiliar to the rabbit, something dark and primal. Judy had never really hated anything, even the raiders that scourged the Commonwealth she kept a small amount of sympathy for, but this … this stirred a dark part of her she wasn't really aware she had.

Whatever it was, hearing that the Institute was involved in all this made her even more determined to help Nick. Of all the mammals she'd ever met, Nick was the most real to her, which was surprising considering how surreal the situation was for him. She really cared a lot about him, though she wasn't quite sure why. But, at the very least, going after the Institute might mean she could get some answers about what happened to her brother all those years ago.

Judy was still pondering how to bring that up to Nick. She _did_ want to tell him, since he already revealed so much about himself to her. It only seemed fair. She wanted him to know that she would be with him on this one hundred percent.

She took a glance over her shoulder and saw Nick sitting in the chair next to Kellogg's personal terminal, his head low and eyes distant. Valentine was behind him, looking through all of the small crates and boxes near the weasel's desk, hoping to find anything that would give them a clue as to what to do next. Hawthorne - ever the opportunist - was on the other side of the room, trying to find the best scrap that he could so he could make a few more extra caps once he got back to Diamond City.

The rest were all off doing their own things, but only Judy was concerned about Nick. He'd gone through hell these past couple days, and his son was still nowhere within his grasp. They were making progress, but having the Institute getting mixed up in all this probably didn't help his mood.

She could tell he needed to talk to someone about this, even if he didn't really want to. She always had a knack for knowing when one of her brothers or sisters was like this, and she hadn't lost that skill during her time as a Minuteman. Nick needed someone, and Judy was going to be there for him.

Gathering the scrap she'd managed to find, Judy moved over to where Nick was sitting.

"Nick." she said, causing him to snap his head towards her. "We've learned quite a lot here…. You wanna talk about any of it?" she asked in a calm, reassuring voice.

"I mean… I…" the fox started, but stopped and briefly looked over at Kellogg's corpse, a now headless mass of flesh, lying on the floor several meters away.

"I don't know how I'm supposed to feel right now. I couldn't have been more thrilled seeing you give that bastard **exactly** what he deserved... But Shaun is still out there, and now that these Institute guys have him… I'm just not sure what we're supposed to do now." Nick said. Judy would've responded, had it not been for their synth companion speaking up from behind them.

"Well first things first, we gotta see if anything in here can give us a clue as to what to do next. There's no telling what kind of data all this Institute tech might hold." Valentine said, still rummaging through the boxes.

"You really think Kellogg left a map to the damn place just lying around here?" Nick asked.

"Not in the slightest, but my gut tells me that something somewhere in this room is the key to keeping this investigation going. No way this all ends here."

Judy had to agree with that. The past few days had been eventful, even compared to the rest of the month, with losing Quincy, moving from place to place, and just trying to survive. For things to have ended now would just feel wrong.

Judy gave a nod to the detective, who moved Nick aside so that he could get access to Kellogg's terminal and see if anything of importance could be found inside.

"Let's see… Got some notes here. Says Shaun was successfully delivered back to the Institute. Hmm… Looks like our weasel was about to go after some renegade, whatever that means... He also mentions something about… Huh? Come take a look at this." Valentine said, gesturing over to the terminal.

Nick and Judy each took a look at the circular screen on top of the desk, reading the entry in question.

_Might need to get another touch-up next time I'm in the Institute. I keep swearing that someone is tailing me. Always catching something out of the corner of my eye out on the road._

_Maybe I'm just being paranoid. Now that the kid's dad finally made it out of the fridge, I keep wondering if he's gonna come after me, try to get the kid back. Heh, not fucking likely. Moron was born before the war. He probably won't even make it to Diamond City._

_Either way, I gotta keep my eyes open. I coulda sworn a goddamn bunny was giving me the evil-eye in the market the other day. Might have to start sleeping with two eyes open soon enough._

Valentine clicked to the next entry.

_Saw the bunny again. Striped. It was from a long distance, but I don't believe in coincidences. I'm being tracked._

_And to make matters worse, I heard that the fridge fox made it to Diamond City. Was poking around my old place. I really don't get paid enough for this shit._

Judy and Nick shared a glance. Someone else was tracking down Kellogg. Valentine said the guy had no enemies on account of the merc killing them all, but it looks like one managed to slip through the cracks.

"That leaves us with a lot more questions than answers." Judy said. "Does it say anywhere about who this 'renegade' is and where we could find them?"

Valentine looked through the rest of the entries in the terminal, scanning over them briefly and shaking his head at each one.

"Nope. Nothin' in here's gonna tell us where to head to. I'll keep looking around. You found anything over there, Hawthorne?" the synth asked across the room.

"Not anything of use to you guys. Unless a bunch of old junk is what you're looking for! Y'all need tin cans? Wonderglue? I got some good circuitry if you need a few upgrades, Valentine." the wolf said.

"Hey, save a little of that for Nick! Poor guy has only a few caps left to his name." Judy said teasingly, but looked over to see the fox still looking distant.

"Nick?" she asked.

The fox started, and then looked up at her again, shaking his head as he realized he was losing focus.

"Sorry, Carrots. This is a lot to take in. I've been thinking… this sounds like it's gonna get pretty dangerous, what with these Institute guys being involved. You've already helped me so much, so maybe… you could head back to Sanctuary if you wanted to. Valentine's a good detective, and the guys back there could really…"

"No." she said, interrupting him before he could speak further. No way she'd let the fox leave her on the sidelines.

"I'm being serious here, Carrots. You've done so much already, and I don't want you to get mixed up in this when I've already got help."

"Well if I remember correctly, our agreement was that I'd help you find your son. Doesn't look like we've found him yet, now does it? And besides, if it's going to be so dangerous, someone has to look out for the poor Vault Dweller now, don't they? I mean ... you don't know a bloodbug from a stingwing, now do you?"

"I mean, we ran into a couple bloodbugs yesterday. I could probably tell the difference. But, I guess I see your point. I will defer to your judgement, even if it's from a dumb bunny." he said, his face curving into a sly smile.

' _There we go.'_ Judy thought. This was the Nick she liked.

"Oh, I'm the dumb one? Weren't you the one that just suggested taking on the Institute alone?" she said with a chuckle.

"I told you I wouldn't be alone. Valentine's got my back, isn't that right Nicky?"

"Nicky? What are you, my mother? I thought we agreed to never call each other by our first names, makes things confusing for everyone else." the synth said as he closed down the terminal. "Anyway, I got nothing else from in there. It might be a bit hard to stomach, but Kellogg might've had some kinda clue on his person. Lucky for me I don't have a stomach."

Valentine moved over the weasel's body, inspecting his pockets for anything that could be of help. He only found a small bag of caps, a few .44 bullets, and a couple of San Francisco Sunlights.

"Dammit. Looks like the trail has ran cold… Huh, what do we have here?" The detective said, leaning over an unusually shaped chunk of Kellogg's head.

The piece he pulled up was not what one would normally expect to come out of someone's brain. Several bits of metal poking out of the flesh, some with wires connected to the ends, others without.

"Would you look at that. This sure is one interesting gizmo. Looks a bit like the kind of tech you'd find in _my_ head. Hmm..." the synth said as he looked intensely at the small device.

"Think it could help us out?" Judy said.

"Hard to say. Never seen anything like this in someone's brain before… wait a minute… We might've just won the lottery with this."

"Uh, you're talking crazy there, Valentine. Don't tell me getting turned into a computer muddled your mind in some way." Nick said.

"More than you know Wilde, But that's neither here nor there. Look, this is some kind of neural augmentation. I bet you our perp has a few such widgets implanted here and there."

The synth brushed a few chunks of grey matter free from the strange looking device he'd extracted from the former weasel's head.

"There's a place in Goodneighbor called the Memory Den. You can relive the past moments in your mind clear as the day they happened. Organics can, anyway. If anyone could figure how to get this dead brain to sing, it'd be Doctor Amari, the mind behind the memories."

"So we've got a plan then?" Judy asked.

"Sounds like it, but wherever this Goodneighbor place is, we won't be making it there tonight. It's already 7:30." Nick said, pointing to the clock on his pip-boy.

"Dammit. It's probably already dark out there. You guys want to find somewhere else to stay the night? Sleeping in here wouldn't be a good idea. Never know if more of those synths might show up." Hawthorne said, joining the rest of the group with a backpack now full of junk to sell.

"Good idea. I spotted an old Red Rocket not too far down the main road. We could set up camp there." Judy said, moving to gather anything she might need.

"Alright, let's get moving people." Hawthorne said, gesturing to the open doors.

The group moved down the long hallway they once passed through, stepping over the jumbled synth remains as they made their way the elevator at the far end of the hall. They crowded inside, and Judy had to be thankful that none of them were any larger. Whoever designed this elevator clearly didn't do it with elephants in mind for potential occupants.

After they ascended, the doors opened to reveal a small empty room, except for a door and terminal mounted to a wall. The skylights above them revealed that the sun had indeed gone down long ago, giving way to a cold October night. Judy, and likely everyone except Valentine, were wishing that they'd been more prepared to camp out. But it was too late now, they just needed to get to the filling station. A faint hum could be heard over the otherwise silent night. Then two hums, then three.

' _What's going on out there?'_ Judy wondered.

Valentine activated the terminal, opening the door to the outside world.

What they found outside was the last thing any of them expected.

Some sort of blimp, massive in size, with spotlights shining down to the ground and walkways leading across its underside. Large, mechanical arms held vertibirds in place along the walkways, and several more of the small aircraft were flying alongside the massive airship. The sound of a loudspeaker activating was heard coming from the colossal ship, and soon a voice spoke.

" **People of the Commonwealth. Do not interfere. Our intentions are peaceful. We are the Brotherhood of Steel."** the voice said before a loud click was heard, and the airship continued on its course, heading east towards the coast, launching several other vertibirds into the air as it flew.

Judy was in awe. The Brotherhood had managed to make that? She knew that they were supposed to be well equipped, but to have their own airship? They must've had more power than she thought. She wondered if even the Enclave at its peak had anything to rival this.

Her other party members were equally shocked. None of them said a word, just stared wide eyed as the massive blimp soared onwards.

After several seconds of silence, Valentine finally spoke up.

"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there... wondering… fearing…"

A moment of silence passed over them.

"Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before..."

Judy and Valentine both looked in mild surprise at Nick, who shrugged.

"What? Hasn't everyone read that?"

* * *

As Nick was quickly discovering, living out in the wasteland absolutely sucked. He'd quickly come to realise three things:

#1 - Finding food was difficult. If you didn't grow or hunt it yourself, you had to scavenge some of the old packaged food that was still lying around. As it would turn out, even with the food preservation technology they had back in the day, Cram tasted like complete garbage after 200 years … just like he remembered. Nick's face scrunched up as he continued to chew on the protein he just finished cooking over a small fire.

#2 - Finding a suitable place to rest was a challenge. The camp they'd set up inside the old Red Rocket gas station was not exactly the kind of place he wanted to be staying in for any long duration. The doors had fallen off at the hinge, letting anyone (or anything) that wanted to get inside easy access. Nick thought that the place was a death trap, just asking for a group of ghouls or Bloodbugs to come claim a fresh meal. But Judy and Hawthorne told him otherwise, saying that the building could easily be defended if they came under attack.

#3 - Staying safe for the night was all on you. No guards to keep you safe out here. If you were alone, you had to sleep with one eye open. Lucky for Nick, he had three companions that could keep their eyes open for him, one of which didn't even need to sleep, but it was likely that the fox would still have trouble falling asleep later on. He just didn't feel safe at all.

All of this helped reassure Nick that he needed to get a house in Diamond City as soon as possible. No way he was going to live out here with Shaun.

The fox took a break from chewing on his disgusting pre-war food, and looked around the small station. Valentine and Hawthorne were chatting behind the main counter, discussing any recent Diamond City news. Nick sat down next to the small fire they'd set up in the middle of the room, trying to soak in a bit more warmth. From his vantage, he could see Judy sitting in one of the small booths next to the window on high alert, her ears perked up high and nose twitching adorably. She was just being careful, making sure nothing was about to sneak up on them. Nick was yet again thankful for the rabbit's presence.

Letting out a yawn, Nick realized just how exhausted he really was. First, he finds Valentine of all mammals still alive, at least in some capacity. Next he finds out Shaun is around ten years old now, and being looked after by the same bastard who abducted him. Then he tracks down the aforementioned bastard and has Judy give him a nice lead-filled hello. Then it turns out the fucking Institute has Shaun, making everything about twenty thousand times more complicated. And to top it all off, the next thing he knows he's making plans to take a look at the memories of a dead mammal and a goddamn _airship_ shows up in the sky.

He hoped things in the Commonwealth weren't usually this eventful, otherwise he'd soon die of exhaustion.

The fox pulled out a small sleeping bag from his pack and placed it on the floor, making sure to keep it a safe distance away from the fire. He needed to get some shut-eye. Or at the very least, try to.

Unfortunately, Valentine didn't seem to agree with him. After the synth finished up his conversation with Hawthorne, he walked over and took a seat next to Nick.

"How you doin', Wilde?" the detective asked.

"I'm not really in the mood for an interrogation right now Valentine, you've done that to me more than enough for one lifetime. I've had a _long_ day." Nick said as he laid down on the sleeping bag.

"Who said anything about an interrogation? We're just having nice little chat, you and me. Catching up after 200 years and whatnot."

Nick let out an audible sigh, but figured he could manage staying awake for another few minutes.

"Alright, fine. What'd you wanna talk about?" Nick asked, sitting back up.

"Well, the young miss Hopps over there told me you've been having some… eh... issues as of late..." Valentine started.

"I thought this wasn't going to be an interrogation," replied the fox, dryly.

"Look Wilde, she made it sound like your moral compass has been on the fritz since you thawed out, even more so than usual. The past is best left in the past; despite our history, I actually want to make sure you're doing okay. So just tell me what's going on, would ya?"

Nick let out another sigh and stared out the window, relenting to the synths words. He shouldn't be so reluctant about this. Valentine was only trying to help.

"Back in Concord I had to, uh… kill some mammals to protect Judy and the rest of them. I didn't fully realize it until later that night, but…"

He turned to face the synth detective, his face a mask of confusion.

"I _liked_ it."

"You… liked it? In what way?" Valentine asked.

"I just… I don't know, got a rush from it. I enjoyed that feeling."

"Ah, I see…" the synth said as he turned his head away from Nick.

' _Great. The one person alive that you knew before the war and now he thinks you're a monster.'_

"Look, I know that sounds bad, but believe me, I don't _want_ to enjoy it. I _want_ the damn feeling to go away."

"No, I get what you're saying. Let's just think about this for a second."

Nick peeked over to where Judy was sitting, taking note of her ear turning a bit more towards him than before. He didn't really care if she pried on the conversation. She was the one who asked Valentine about this in the first place. Plus, he could tease her about it later.

"Hmm … so back when we were fighting those synths, did you feel that rush?" Valentine asked.

"Yes." the fox replied.

"What about those ghouls back at the bridge?"

"Yeah."

"The Mirelurks on the train tracks?"

"A bit, yeah."

"Okay, okay. I'm starting to think that maybe you just enjoy a fight, Wilde."

Nick shook his head at the synth.

"No. I mean, that's what I thought at first… but I've gotten into fights before. A few street or pub brawls every once in awhile, and those never felt _anything_ like this. It's just so… _gripping_ … and _powerful_." Nick said.

"Powerful, eh? Maybe that's exactly what it is? Maybe you just enjoy feeling powerful," the tinman deduced.

"Maybe… but I never enjoyed power like that before. Having control over someone else. I liked having money, sure, but not that."

"Hmm… Well I'm no psychiatrist, so I don't really know what to say here, Wilde. Can't really pin it down on one thing down completely. But the good news is that it _worries_ _you_. I'd be more concerned if it didn't."

"Hey, don't worry about it Valentine. This might be something I just have to work out on my own."

"Well just because you have to do it on your own doesn't mean you have to _be_ alone. You ever need to talk to anyone about it, I'm all ears. I've seen this wasteland take too many good folks. I'd hate to see you among them."

Nick gave a smile to his once sworn enemy.

"Thanks, Valentine. I'll keep that in mind."

"Don't mention it. Now, I think it's about time all you non-synthetic mammals hit the hay. We've got quite the trek back to Diamond City tomorrow, and you all will need your energy." He turned around to face Judy. "That means let the guy that doesn't have to sleep take watch, Hopps."

"Oh, _come on,"_ she teased _,_ "You've gotta get bored after doing nothing for eight hours, right?" Judy said, letting her ears relax and her eyes droop to a half-lidded state.

"Beyond belief, but I always manage. Get some sleep."

As Valentine set himself up on on one of the stools to keep watch, Hawthorne and Judy each set up their sleeping bags. The timberwolf set his up behind the front counter, while Judy walked over to Nick.

"You mind having a little company?" she asked, laying her sleeping bag down before he even had the chance to respond.

"Strange - I didn't hear any words come out of my mouth. You bunnies and your ears." Nick said mockingly, once again sitting up.

"Harr-harr." she said, sitting down next to him.

A few seconds of silence lingered between them, before Nick spoke up.

"Have I mentioned how crazy we all are for setting up camp in here?"

"Only about three times now." Judy responded.

"Well, let's make it four then. We're all crazy for setting up camp in here. A Deathclaw could wander up and nab us all up like little sardines."

"And I told you, we'll be fine. Just as long as our robot-slave does his job right."

"Easy now darlin', I might take offense." Valentine said playfully from across the station, causing Nick and Judy to each let out a chuckle.

"Anyway, you should stop worrying. I've been doing this stuff for years now." Judy said.

"Oh, I'm not worried. Just a little concerned. You wanna see me when I'm worried, you should've seen me when Clare first thought she was pregnant. I swear I made my claws dull when that happened."

"Uh, I'm a rabbit, Slick. If anyone learned the hard way about having kits when they aren't wanted, it's us. My parents told us stories upon stories about rabbits back in the day who couldn't… _adjust_ to the new world, so they quickly ran out of food for everyone. Luckily that's something I've never had to be … concerned about."

"Oh come on, you've never even been with anyone?" Nick asked, perplexed.

She quickly shook her head.

"How old are you again?"

"Twenty-Five."

Nick let out a small laugh.

"Geez, Carrots. There are latecomers, and then there's you."

"Oh, and you think it'd be easy lugging a few kits around on patrols? Kits are the _last_ thing I need right now."

"A rabbit that doesn't want to have children. It really _is_ the end of the world." Nick said jokingly, his smirk growing. Judy batted him lightly on the arm.

"I didn't say I _never_ wanted to have kits, they're just the last thing I _need_ right _now_." she said, her nose starting to twitch from the annoyance.

"Calm down, Carrots. I gotcha."

They each laid down on their sleeping bags, and Nick tried once more to fall asleep, but Judy spoke up again.

"I just realized how weird that conversation was. How did we even get to that?" she asked.

"Beats me, Carrots. I'm too tired to remember anything right now."

"But I mean... really. Here we are, lying in what is essentially a bed, talking about _that_? Isn't one of us supposed to suggest we go make out behind the building or something?" Judy said with a chuckle.

' _Oh, you're making this too easy, Carrots.'_

Nick turned to face her, slapping on his sly smile, deliberately making his emerald eyes sparkle and readying the smoothest voice he could muster.

He leaned in ever so slightly closer to her.

" _Only if you want me to,_ " he drawled.

The look on her face assured him that his teasing had achieved its desired effect. Her eyes were as big as dinner plates, scanning his face to try and figure out if he was serious. Her mouth was slightly agape, struggling to hide the shock and embarrassment.

After a few more seconds of this, Nick could no longer hold himself back. He rolled onto his back, letting out loud laughs as he heard Judy let out a very audible sigh.

"That, was _not_ funny." She said, crossing her arms over her chest as she laid her head back down.

"Oh, if you could've seen your face you would've thought so. Either of you guys get a chance to see her face? No?"

"Maybe you two should stop flirting and let poor Hawthorne get his rest." the synth spoke up from his stool, a lit cigarette in his metallic hand

"Do you try to ruin the fun in everything, Valentine?" Nick asked.

"Only when you're involved, Wilde. Get some rest."

* * *

Judy was jolted awake with the sudden realization that she was shaking. Not from any nightmare, but from the cold October night that was making its presence known. A small disadvantage of staying in the gas station was that due to the large open windows, they'd be much less protected from the elements. It wasn't anything major, as it was still leaps and bounds better than sleeping outside.

She wrapped her arms around herself to try and retain a little more warmth.

On particularly chilly nights back in Diamond City, Judy and all her siblings would all bundle up into one big pile of warmth in order to stave off the chills. Right _now_ , however, she didn't have any brothers or sisters to bundle up with. She had a synth, who Judy noted was still sitting on the same stool. A wolf, who was completely out of sight behind the front counter, and a fox who was lying next to her - appearing to be in a similar situation to her own.

Nick was shivering as well, along with the occasion toss and turn as he tried to find a position to better maintain his warmth. Had any of them known that they'd be camping out for the night, they would've brought some thicker clothes, or at least some kind of blanket.

The thought crossed her mind that the two of them could cuddle up, making each other warmer through the night. That probably wouldn't be a good idea though, especially after their previous conversation.

Right as she began telling herself to forget the whole idea, a particularly strong gust of wind flowed through her sleeping bag, sending even more chills down her spine. She looked back to Nick, and with her keen hearing noticed that the fox was muttering something in his sleep. The rabbit listened intently, and very quickly realized that Nick was having a nightmare.

Whenever she or her siblings had a particularly nasty nightmare, they'd also bundle up into a big pile for the night. Come to think of it, rabbits solved a lot of problems that way.

' _Ah, screw it.'_ Judy thought. It would benefit them both, and Nick wouldn't be awake to tease about it while he was asleep, so she gave in.

She climbed out of her own sleeping bag and found a gap in Nick's that she could easily climb into. Once she was fully engulfed, she wrapped her arms around his torso in order to get a larger spread of their body heat. She couldn't fully tell because of Nick's thick clothing, but what fur was exposed was very soft and warm. She wondered how he was even cold in the first place.

As she took in the fox's warmth, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her, pulling her close. Nick seemed to settle, and the rabbit felt the tension in the fox's body ease. With her head against Nick's chest, she was in a rare position to take in his scent. And to her surprise, he smelled phenomenal. Even though he hadn't bathed in a couple days, he still smelled better than any mammal in Diamond City. He had the usual smell of the road on him, and a musky scent that was clearly a fox's - but there was a subtle smell that Judy couldn't quite place. And then it dawned on her … that was probably the lingering smell of the soap he used 200 years ago. The day the bombs fell. That pre-war dedication to cleanliness really did wonders.

It was strange… to say the least - here she was wrapped up in this 200-plus-year-old fox's arms, just trying to keep warm on a cold night, and yet she couldn't feel any more relaxed if she tried. Something about it just felt right. And judging from the small smile on the sleeping fox's face, he felt the same way.

The comfort of the situation soon took its toll on the rabbit, and she eventually floated back down into unconsciousness.

A pair of glowing yellow eyes watched the sleeping pair. Valentine couldn't help but smile at the sight, before he felt a sudden pang of sorrow. Once upon a time he'd shared a warm bed with a mammal, something the synth knew was impossible now. And not because of his metallic chassis.

"Enjoy it while you've got it," the detective softly muttered.

He crushed out his cigarette and uttered a small sigh.

"I miss ya' Jen."


	21. Two Hundred Years Late

_**Zootopia is property of Disney** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda.** _

* * *

A heavy sigh escaped Nick's muzzle as the faded green walls of Diamond City's front gate came into view. He couldn't wait to once again have the luxury of letting his guard down . He needed a place where he could relax, even if only for a moment.

The morning so far had been fairly normal… well, as 'normal' as Nick could reasonably expect these days. When he awoke he felt refreshed and ready to start the day. Judy and Hawthorne had already begun to prepare breakfast, and Valentine continued to keep watch from that same stool he'd been sitting on the night before. They ate their meal quietly, save for the occasional grunted greeting, planned their route back to Diamond City, and hit the road.

The route they chose was fairly simple; their thinking was that if they retraced the exact same path by which they'd come, they would hopefully run into fewer threats than they would taking a faster, more direct route.

Their logic seemed to have been spot-on, as they'd only encountered a few radroaches and bloatflies as resistance by the time they reached the city.

All in all, a problem free trip. But there was one thing that kept bothering Nick, though the fox couldn't put his finger on what exactly it was...

When he awoke, the fox was able to smell a _very particular_ smell coming off of him that wasn't his own - the scent of a certain bunny he'd been traveling with.

Bunnies, he knew, were known for being very affectionate towards _one another_. Apparently they often nuzzled one another and slept in piles. But Nick couldn't recall her doing something like that with him, let alone having a reason to. And yet … it sure smelled like she'd climbed into his sleeping bag. Perhaps he'd ask her about it later… but at the same time, he didn't know if he should or not. Maybe he should just try and forget it. It's not like it really meant anything, right? He had noticed the frost on the ground that morning, so she _probably_ just got cold or something.

Probably.

As they walked through the front gate, the racoon guard gave them a quick nod as they passed, before taking another drag on his cigarette. Nick returned the nod, continuing into Diamond City.

The fox let out an audible sigh of relief as the interior of the city came into view, from the large smokestack at the center, to the various shacks scattered around the place, to the school bus resting on top of the one of the buildings. He could _finally_ let his guard down again. Glancing around, he saw the tension easing from the stance of his companions. Well, save for Valentine … but he had no muscles to relax.

"I tell you what, Wilde," Hawthorne started, "I've definitely never had a job like that one."

"Yeah? I don't doubt it. I'm glad we had you around. Things could've gotten pretty hairy otherwise." the fox replied.

"Actually, we would've never even gone there if he hadn't been around, so things _wouldn't_ have gotten hairy at all!" Judy said next to him, smirking.

"You know what I mean, you dumb bunny." Nick quipped before turning back to the timberwolf, extending his paw. "Hawthorne, it's been a pleasure."

The wolf took the fox's smaller paw and gave it a firm shake.

"Likewise, Wilde. Hope you find your son out there. If ya ever need my nose again, you know where to find me. Especially if there's some more quality scrap to be had."

"I'll keep that in mind. See you around, Hawthorne."

"See ya." the wolf said, walking down towards the Dugout Inn. After a brief silence, Valentine spoke up.

"Alright, you two. Go get whatever supplies you need for the trip. I'm gonna head back to the agency and see if I can find any old files that might help us figure things out."

"I'm actually going to go see my folks, is that alright with you, Nick?" Judy asked after turning back to the fox.

"No, Carrots. I _forbid_ you from seeing your family _ever again._ " He replied, his voice laden with playful sarcasm. "Go tell them I said 'hi'... and tell Beth not to pull on my tail so hard the next time I come over."

"Can do, Slick."

With everyone else breaking off to carry out their own tasks, Nick headed towards the market, hoping to sell off all of the junk he'd managed to scavenge inside Fort Hagen. With that in mind, he made his way to Diamond City Surplus, walking up the deer who was standing out front, who had been eyeing him with suspicion as he approached.

"You. I-I don't know you. Just keep your distance." the doe said, not taking her eyes off of Nick.

This wasn't the first time in Nick's life that a prey had told him to stay away from them. Occasionally he'd find a street vendor that refused him service, or an ice cream shop that tried to kick him out. He always obliged them, as it wasn't his job to change the way mammals thought of foxes. But hearing it now was… discouraging. Then again, Judy had told him earlier that it was probably because he was new in town, some mammals might fear he was a synth. Nick might as well give the doe a chance.

"Calm down, ma'am. I'm standing still. Just looking to sell a bit of junk." Nick said, trying to remain as friendly as possible.

"Yeah? Well we don't serve synths here. How do I know you're not one, huh?"

"Well, I remember you giving me the shifty eyes yesterday. How many synths have you seen sporting one of those vault-suits around?" Nick said.

"Hmph. Alright, but I've got my eye on you. I've got eyes like a… well, they're good, okay?" the doe said, relaxing slightly.

Nick spent the next ten minutes bartering with the deer, trying to get as many caps as he possibly could. He didn't know exactly how much all the old stuff he had was worth, but by the end of it, he had more than a hundred caps resting in his pockets.

Taking a look at his Pip-Boy, Nick noticed it was almost noon, and he was getting a bit peckish. He didn't feel like having any more of that awful tasting pre-war food, so he decided to try out that noodle stand in the center of the city.

As Nick climbed up onto one of the stools, the protectron wearing a chefs hat spoke.

"Nan-ni shimasho-ka?" The robot said.

"Uh… What?" Nick asked.

"Nan-ni shimasho-ka?" it said again.

"I uh… Look, what kind of stuff do you guys have here?" Nick was beginning to get annoyed at this robot.

"Nan-ni shimasho-ka?" it once again said in that exact same tone it had before.

"What the hell is wrong with this-"

"Ah, Blue!" a voice behind him said. He turned his head to see Piper in that same red trench coat and press cap, sauntering towards him before taking the seat to his right.

"Hey, Red. You mind telling me what's wrong with this damn thing?" he asked, pointing to the protectron.

"What, Takahashi? Nothing's wrong with him. He's my confidential informant, you know." she said with a smirk on her face before she turned to the robot.

"Takahashi, thank you for meeting me here. What've you got for me?"

"Nan-ni shimasho-ka?" it said, causing Piper to let out an overly dramatic gasp.

"No! B-but they've been travelling together for _days_ now. How _could_ he?" the vixen asked with faux incredulity.

"Nan-ni shimasho-ka?"

"Sorry, Blue. The jig is up - the news is out. Takahashi told me everything. Web of lies, gone. I mean, I bet your real name's not even Blue, _is it_? And how will Judy take all of this? I'd just start booking it right now if I were you. Let me tell you, that bunny is _not_ to be messed with."

Nick actually had to let out a laugh. He had to give Piper credit, she certainly knew how to spin a story together at a moment's notice. She would have been great at the hustle.

"You think of all that just for me, Red? I'm flattered." Nick said.

"Oh, please. I've had that little gag running with Judy for years now. Where is she by the way?" she asked, looking around.

"Back at her parents' house. Wanted to check up her new brother I guess."

"Oh? And she didn't drag you along with her ..." Piper seemed almost surprised, but the sly smile that suddenly graced the vixen's muzzle was clearly bemused. "Well, she _has_ always loved being with her family. Anyway, if you wanted some noodles, just say 'yes'. That's all he understands."

"Really? Okay… Hey, buddy?" Nick said to the robot, causing it to stop stirring a pot of noodles.

"Nan-ni shimasho-ka?"

"Yes."

The protectron grabbed a ladle off of the counter, scooped up some noodles in the pot, and placed them in a small plastic bowl. It then stood there with the bowl in its hand, as if waiting for Nick to do something.

"Uh, is he-"

"Just give him ten caps and you'll get your noodles. You're lucky I caught you here. Some of the other folks in town might not've been so helpful."

"I'll bet. That doe running the Surplus is crazy." Nick said in a lowered voice, simultaneously taking out ten caps from his pockets, and placing them on the counter. Takahashi placed the bowl down, and began scooping up each individual bottle cap with his robotic hand.

"Yeah, Myrna's always been more paranoid about synths than the average mammal. Don't hold it against her though. There _is_ a legitimate reason to be worried after all."

' _Yeah, no kidding.'_ Nick thought. The deer was afraid of the very same mammals that were responsible for his own son's kidnapping, so he could at least find common ground with her there. Hell, everyone in Diamond City seemed to be afraid of synths, except for Judy, Piper, and Valentine, seeing how he was one himself.

Nick turned to ask Piper what she knew about the Institute, but found that the vixen was sniffing the air, her nose slowly advancing towards Nick. She froze for a moment, a little too close for Nick's liking before slowly backing off and donning what could only be described as a shit-eating grin, her eyes narrowing at the todd across from her.

"Well, well, _well!_ Did I miss anything while you guys were out? 'Cause I'm getting a pretty strong scent of Judy coming off of you right now, Blue." Her eyebrows danced as she smirked at the confused fox in front of her.

Nick rolled his eyes at her, regretting the fact that she noticed at all. "Don't look at me. I know as much about what happened as you do."

"Oh, come on, Blue. No sloppy makeout session? No cuddling up and talking about _feelings_? No lessons in 'multiplication'? How else would her scent be so… eh... _prevalent_ on you?"

"I think I might have an explanation for you, Piper." said avery noir-esque voice behind them.

"Yes! Spill the beans, Nicky. What'd you see?" Piper asked.

"The poor girl was just cold, so she got close to the warmest thing she could think of. In this case, it just so happened to Wilde. Guess I was wrong about him having a cold heart, eh?" Valentine said, earning a huff from Piper.

"Well that's… hardly what I wanted to hear." Piper said as her ears lowered in disappointment.

"Yeah, well life sure ain't a fairytale, Sweetheart. Anyway, you good to go soon, Wilde? The sooner we get to Goodneighbor the better."

"You guys are heading to Goodneighbor? What for?" Piper inquired. Valentine lowered his voice before speaking, leaning in close to the vixen.

"We've got a bit of tech that was connected to the brain of an old mercenary here, and we're hoping the Memory Den can have it show us a way to find the Institute."

"The Institute? Does that mean…" She turned to face Nick.

"They've got Shaun. The weasel said it himself." replied Nick, dejected.

"Damn. That makes things a hell of a lot more complicated. I'd head down with you guys, but I've got a lot of work backed up at the Publick. But while you're out I'll dig through my contacts, old stories and things like that to try and find any info that might help."

"Good thinking." Valentine said. "Now how about you and me go pick up the young Miss Hopps, Wilde?

"Sure thing. Like you said, the sooner the better."

* * *

Nick couldn't quite explain it, but the streets seemed much more dead than they had before. Well, they seemed dead enough already, but right now that was extra true.

They were now only a few blocks away from Boston Common; Hubris Comics was less than a hundred feet down the street, and they hadn't run into a single thing - mammal or otherwise - that wanted to do them harm. Perhaps it was because of Judy and Valentine's experience when it came to moving around the wasteland, or maybe they'd just gotten lucky, and all the ghouls and raiders decided to take a day off.

Judy's ears were perked high, occasionally twitching in the direction of a nearby sound, before turning back to their normal position. Valentine's eyes were wandering all around, making sure no back alley or abandoned building escaped his gaze. Nick was sniffing the air, his gaze darting from place to place, ears perked.

And strangely enough, he did all that without really even thinking about it. It wasn't even an act to make it look like he was helping; he was just as terrified as he always was, but his alertness was becoming automatic, almost instinctual. Whether this was a good or bad thing… well, he'd hopefully find that out later.

Judy suddenly froze in place, while her ears stretched up as high as they could, facing forward. She moved her arm out at her side to stop the rest of the group.

"Gunshots." she said as her nose began to twitch.

"You getting a bit jumpy there, Hopps? You know better than anyone that random shots ring out all the time out here."

"Well, I also know that you have to be cautious about each one you hear. Things can go wrong in an instant." Judy said.

"No arguments there." Valentine replied, and the group quickly resumed their walking and picked up the pace.

As the ruins of the old Trinity Tower came into view from the street to their right, Nick thought he saw something moving inside the tower's lobby. Something big and green. Whatever it was, it thankfully failed to notice them as they cautiously passed.

They moved forward, approaching Boston Common before Valentine halted the group.

"Hold up. Looks like we've got some stiffs up ahead." the detective said, pointing ahead to the two still forms lying in the street.

The trio approached with caution, scanning the windows of nearby buildings and making doubly sure that nothing was nearby, waiting to strike.

The closer of the two bodies, a lynx with mangy fur that had several missing patches all over, had a hole the size of a quarter straight through her head. She was lying on her back, with a dark pool of blood having already formed behind her head, beginning to show signs of coagulation. The second mammal - a male moose that appeared to have sharpened his antlers into wicked spikes - lay face down in a much larger pool of his own blood, around ten feet away from the lynx. There was a hole straight through his abdomen. Each of their crude pipe weapons were unceremoniously scattered onto the ground, with the lynx's lying underneath her still form. The clothes they wore were tattered, and they had a bunch of rusted metal masquerading as armor. They definitely looked like raiders.

"Damn. What do you make of it, Valentine?" Nick asked.

"Hmm … Why don't you tell me, Wilde?" The synth responded with a smirk, before taking in the view of the scene. "Been awhile since I've had to case a scene, takes me back … Judging by where their body is, I'd say the lynx was hit first. No way anyone would get a clean shot to the dome like that on a moving target. Now let's take a look here…" The synth said, bending down and lifting the feline's head, revealing an even larger hole in the back of her head.

"See that exit wound? Telltale sign of a hollow point; a .308 most likely. And by the looks of it, I bet you we find the same thing on the moose."

They walked over to the downed figure, using their combined strength to turn over the much larger mammal to inspect his front side. Sure enough, the exit wound was around the same size as the lioness's head wound.

"Yep, this confirms it …" The synth said, nodding to himself before turning to Nick. "Why don't you try and piece this whole thing together, Wilde? I wasn't kidding when I said for you to tell me."

Nick gave Valentine a quizzical look. What angle was the old detective working? The fox was sure he could work out what happened, but wondered why Valentine wanted _him_ to. But, Nick's curiosity got the better of him and he decided to play along. .

"Well ... this guy was clearly shot in the back, that 'ventilation port' in his chest tells us that much... It's obvious that he was running. Look at how far away his gun is from him." He said, pointing to the pipe rifle several feet away.

"And since our feline friend fell on top of her gun, she was clearly standing still, or at least moving slowly. That means that she got hit first, the moose tried to run away, but didn't quite make it. Now, you said the wounds were made from a .308 round, so that could mean a sniper picked these poor guys off from a distance, if I remember my ammo types correctly. Lastly, all this might explain why the streets seemed so empty at the moment. Somebody else, most likely a sniper, must've already passed through, clearing a nice path for us. Guess our bun-dar over there was right about those shots earlier." Nick let out a sigh as he finished up his spiel. "That cover everything?"

"Indeed it does. I always said you'd have made a good police officer, Wilde. You just never listened." Valentine said.

"Pfft, come on. Like they would've let _me_ on the force." Nick said with dismissal.

"There were never any rules against foxes joining, you know."

"Yeah, not any _official_ rules..."

"Hey guys?" Judy suddenly spoke up. "Do you think we can get a move on? Something about standing right where these guys were hit by a sniper is putting me on edge."

"Oh, you'd be fine, Carrots. I doubt any sniper would be able to hit you. You'd probably hear the shot before it even hit you."

"I can't defy the laws of physics, Nick." Judy said, crossing her arms.

"Not with that kind of attitude you can't. Now, shall we?" Nick gestured forward.

Just like it had been before, the streets remained quiet as they continued onwards towards Goodneighbor, with Judy and Valentine leading the way. Nick eyed what looked like several dead ghouls in a small graveyard, a few of them missing limbs. He had to pat himself on the back at his assumption earlier. Someone else had definitely come through already. But something about this troubled Nick. It all seemed too convenient. But the fox was probably just being paranoid, and besides, he had more pressing matters to attend to.

With the Mass Fusion Building towering ahead, Judy and Valentine took a right, turning to face the Old State House. A wall had been constructed on this side, covering each side of the street. A neon sign on the wall read "Goodneighbor'', and there were street signs pointing them towards an entrance.

"Here we are." Valentine said. "The lowest place in the Commonwealth. Everything not nailed down rolls through here at some point. Lucky for us, this old neighborhood has exactly what we need to find these Institute bastards."

"Yeah, let's hope. So they've made towns out of Fenway, Bunker Hill, and now Scollay Square? Any other strange settlement locations you want to tell me about?" Nick asked.

"Sure, how about Nuka-World, or an old submarine base, heck why not build a town around a live nuke? I'm joking of course … well, except that last one … Mammals will always find someplace to call home. Even if it isn't exactly a place you'd call 'homely'." the synth said.

"Alright, let's get in there." Nick said, a newfound sense of determination flowing through his veins.

Walking through the entrance, Nick saw that the inside didn't look much better than the outside. Trash was strewn all over the street, piling up around the walls. A neon sign above one of the buildings read "Guns, Guns, Guns!.", while a less lavish one read "Daisy's Discounts". Several mammals were going about their business, but one in particular caught the trio's eyes. A badger in road leathers, smoking a cigarette only a few feet ahead of them, blocking their path.

"Well, well. It's the detective." The badger began with an almost ghoul-like voice, eyeing the synth up and down. "Tracking another wayward husband to his mistress?"

"Why? Someone stand you up?" Valentine replied, earning a snicker from Nick and Judy.

The badger however, was not amused. "You tryin' that uh, whad'ya call it? Evasive language on me? That shit ain't gonna fly." He turned his attention to the synth's mammalian companions. "And who're you two clowns? Valentine got some new private dicks-in-training?"

"Oh, were you looking for a position? I mean, Valentine is hiring, but I don't think you'd… measure up." Nick replied.

"Now don't be like that. You just look like someone who's in the market for a little insurance."

"Insurance, really?" Nick asked incredulously. "Even two hundred years out and mammals are still running _that_ scam."

"Yeah. I think you're gonna like what I have on offer. You and that lil' bunny start handin' over everything you got in them pockets, or 'accidents' start happening to ya. Big, bloody, 'accidents'."

Nick was about to kindly tell the badger to fuck off, but before he could, a voice was heard coming from the alleyway that led to deeper into the town.

"Whoa, whoa. Time out." the voice said.

A ghoulified lion in a weird red frock coat and a tricorn hat appeared out of the shadows, walking towards the badger. A lioness in metal armor quick followed, leaning against the side of one of the buildings.

"Nick Valentine makes a rare visit to town, and you're hassling his friends with that extortion crap?" The lion quickly turned to face the detective. "Good to see ya again, Nick."

"Hancock." Valentine replied, and the lion once again faced the badger, a scowl on his face.

"Why d'you care? He ain't one of us!" The badger yelled.

"No love for your mayor, Finn? I said let 'em go." the ghoul said, causing the badger to scoff.

"You're soft, Hancock. You keep letting outsiders walk all over us, one day there'll be a new mayor."

The lion formed a small thin smile across his face, letting a chuckle escape his lips. "C'mon, Finn. This is _me_ we're talking about here. Let me tell you something…" The lion moved in close, towering over the badger, who was getting visibly nervous.

"Now, you really shouldn't have said that. You're breaking my heart over here. Lucky for you, the jet is making feel a bit out of it right now, so I'm gonna let you make a choice here. You can either let Fahrenheit here have a go at you…" he said, gesturing to the lioness, who gave the badger a quick nod. "...or I can go and fetch Tiny, and we'll see how he feels about all this. Your choice, Finn."

The badger recoiled, backing up and putting his paws in front of him.

"Now, there's no need for any of that, Hancock! I getcha, I'll lay off of 'em. No need to do anything rash here." the badger pleaded.

"Oh, I think it's a bit too late for that, Finn. Tell ya what, I'll let you have a fighting chance, put you up against someone closer to your own size. Hey, Tiny!"

A small figure stepped out of the shadows, wielding a baseball bat in their paws. It almost looked like a fennec, but of course it had barely any fur and it's exposed skin was either burnt, or had fallen off completely. His hazel eyes were pointed straight at the badger, showing nothing but anger. The scowl on the ghoulified fennec's muzzle took Nick back. He had wondered if that look was common to all fennecs or just …

' _No way...'_ he thought, his emerald eyes growing ever wider.

When he spoke, his voice was deep, far deeper than one would expect the voice of someone so small to be. "What's up, Boss?" The fennec said.

"Finn here needs to be taught a lesson. You think you could show him how we treat guests around here?" the lion said.

"Can do." The fennec replied, readying his bat and slowly advancing towards the badger, who was practically shaking in his boots.

That voice. It was raspier … but too damn similar not to confirm the suspicion bouncing around in Nick's mind.

' _This can't be him.'_

' _He's long dead.'_

' _It's... not possible.'_

Despite all these thoughts, Nick still took a tepid step forward.

"Finn?" Nick said, causing the fennec to stop, and every eye in the street to land on Nick.

"What?" the badger said, fear heavy in his voice.

"Not you, you dope. Finnick? Big guy? _Is that you?_ " Nick asked, taking another small step forward.

The fennec froze, his hazel eyes going wide, and his large ears perking up high towards the sky. He dropped his baseball bat to the ground, his body completely frozen.

"Nick?" the fennec whispered after what seemed like an eternity.

When those words escaped his lips, Nick swore that he was never this happy in his entire life. After 200 years, this old fennec was still fighting.

"Finnick, I… you're alive… I can't believe-"

Nick's words were cut off when the fennec ghoul ran up and tackled the much larger fox, pinning him to the ground and snarling right in his face.

"Damn, Finnick. And I thought you were ugly _before_!" Nick joked, unsuccessfully trying to ease some of the tension.

"WILDE!" Finnick yelled as he began to belt Nick, punctuating each word with a fist. "YOU! PIECE! OF! SHIT!"

"Ow, Finnick? Ouch. Fuck, stop that! Ouch!"

Nick wrestled with the fennec, eventually knocking the smaller fox aside and rolling away. Each of them got to their feet, and the ghoul was snarling, his claws extended.

"Wilde." Finnick spat through a growl. "The FUCK aren't you dead?!"

"Geez, Finn. Sound a bit more happy to see me, would ya?" Nick said as he dusted himself off.

"No, no, no. Do not FUCK with me, Wilde! Do you have _any_ idea how long I spent looking for you?!"

Shocked and at a loss, Nick could only shake his head while the rest of the square stared at the unfolding scene.

"50 years, Nick." Finnick said. "I counted... 50 fuckin' years looking for your scrawny ass. I looked everywhere. Downtown, the airport, I even went up to that damn suburb and had to deal with that fuckin' robot wanting to fix me breakfast! And now you just waltz in here with that goddamn grin on your face, and you think nothing's changed?"

Nick tried to formulate a response, but he was at a complete loss for words. He couldn't believe this was happening.

"I had to feel my fur fall out, my skin slowly break away. I had to see just how much of a shitshow the world could become. Every night, I go to sleep knowing that tonight might be the night I finally snap and go feral. And here you are, looking like you haven't aged a fuckin' day. Goddammit, I _mourned_ you, Nick! You can't just act like-"

"And what, you think I didn't mourn for _you_?" Nick snapped with a growl of his own, cutting of his old partner. "Shit, Finn. I thought you were dead. I thought _everyone_ was dead."

Finnick looked like he was beginning to calm down, while the rest of the crowd still watched in awe.

"Look, Finn … can we at least _act_ like we're happy to see each other?"

At that, Finnick fully calmed down, looking around at the crowd that had gathered around them.

"Shit, Nick. Maybe this ain't the best place for our 'happy reunion', huh?"

Nick let out a snort. "Nah, screw them. How about you give dear old dad a hug, eh?"

Finnick's snarl returned, clearly unamused by Nick's teasing. "I swear to God, Nick. If you told anyone about that…"

"Uh, too late. He told me." Judy quickly said, but timidly backed away once all eyes moved to her. Her outburst caused Valentine to speak up.

"Well, I'll be. I always had my suspicions about you, you know. I'd seen you around town, just never had enough evidence, or a reason to confirm anything. So you really are Wilde's old partner?"

"Yep. And you're that robot that thinks he's Valentine?" Finnick asked.

"Yep." the synth replied.

"Well I'm pretty sure two hundred years is plenty for the statute of limitations, so don't get any ideas." Finnick growled.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Valentine said with a laugh.

"Well isn't this all just precious." The ghoulified lion started. "Two pals reunited after so long. Brings a tear to my eye. Today's your lucky day, Finn. Looks like you're off the hook thanks to these two." The badger let out a heavy sigh, and ran further into the town. "I always wondered what your real name was, Tiny. Hell, Finnick fits the bill pretty damn well I'd say. You two go catch up. I'll be in the State House. Oh, and Valentine? Keep him out of trouble for me, would ya?"

"Now that we have both of these foxes here, I don't know if that's possible, Hancock." the synth replied.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll do your best." the lion said, before he walked through the doorway to the State House.

"Well, this is… unexpected, but we've still got a lead to follow. I'll let you two catch up. If you need me, I'll head off to see about what we came here for ."

"Alright. See you in a bit, Valentine." Nick said. The synth walked away, and the crowd steadily dispersed, leaving only Nick, Finnick, and Judy.

Finnick was glaring at Nick, which he found incredibly comforting in a way. It was almost like coming back home.

"Alright … grab your bunny friend, Wilde, and we'll all get a drink." Finnick said, beginning to walk deeper into town, with Nick and Judy in tow. "Let's head to-" The fennec stopped dead in his tracks and whirled around suddenly.

"Finn, what's wrong?" Nick asked. The fennec looked up at him with a look of genuine concern.

"Where the hell is Shaun?"


	22. Reunions

_**Zootopia is property of Disney** _

_**Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda** _

* * *

"Shit, the Institute?" Finnick said, freezing in his seat, his glass of bourbon raised halfway to his muzzle.

"As far as we know. Got word straight from one of their errand boys." Nick said.

The bar Nick's old partner had dragged Judy and him to was a bit of an … oddity to say the least. Located in the subway station below the Old State House, the bar had a strong atmosphere. There were all manner of mammals (both ghoulish and furred) drinking at the various dimly lit tables inside, but there were some additions that Nick didn't expect.

For one, there were mammals openly using chems all around the place. A horse sitting at the bar was taking the occasional hit from some kind of pipe - Nick guessed it was probably full of Jet . A rhino sat alone at a table and jammed a small syringe into his left arm. Almost anywhere Nick looked, someone was getting high and nobody seemed at all concerned about it. Memories of news stories about drug raids back in the pre-war days flashed across his mind - another stark contrast to the situation he now found himself in.

There was also a Mr. Handy behind the bar, cleaning out a glass with his claw-like hand. It had a bowler hat on top of its spherical body, and a Union Jack painted on the side. The robots in the Commonwealth seem to be very… interesting. First Takahashi in Diamond City, and now this. Nick could've sworn he saw an old military Assaultron in one of the stores when he first walked into Goodneighbor as well.

Finally, unlike the Dugout Inn back in Diamond City, _this_ bar had live music, and it was good. A gazelle in a red dress was standing on a makeshift stage, singing some sultry jazz to the crowd, which listened enrapt (though Nick supposed that might have been in no small part because of all the drugs.) Nick couldn't recognize the song she was singing, and wondered if the gazelle had written it herself. Maybe the arts weren't completely dead after all!

"I mean… damn." Finnick said, quickly taking another sip. "What do those assholes even want with a fox kit anyway?"

"That's another thing. We think he's… older. At least ten or eleven." Nick begrudgingly said, taking a draw from his beer.

"Wait, he's older? The fuck does that mean?" the fennec asked, causing Nick to inhaled deeply.

"I got us a spot in a Vault up in Sanctuary Hills. When we got inside, they froze us inside these pods. They said it was just to clean us off … but when the ice started forming I knew."

"Fuck, Nick."

"I know. This is all pretty crazy."

"Nick, you don't know fuckin' crazy, let me tell you that."

Nick looked over at Finnick. The old ghoul had a very distant look on his muzzle, his eye darting back and forth. He couldn't imagine what kind of hell his friend must've been through all these years.

"I figured you were in that Vault, hoped you were… you and the kit. But once things calmed down a bit - fifty? Maybe sixty years after, I knew you were dead or not coming out. Found a bottle of _real_ bourbon … not this watered-down swill." The fennec indicated his now mostly empty glass. "The good stuff. Poured you a drink, and said goodbye."

After a moment, the fennec seemed to regain a bit of his composure, turning to face the larger fox.

"So... You owe me another bottle you jackass. Now, you gonna introduce me to your bunny friend, Wilde? I'd hate to think you'd gone and replaced me or somethin'." Finnick said.

Nick let out a chuckle. "Nah, I could never do that. Where else am I gonna find a small mammal that doesn't take crap from anyone, and is way tougher than they look? Besides, I don't think the elephant costume would fit her … Anyway, Finnick, this is Judy." He pointed to the rabbit sitting on the stool to his left, who gave Finnick a small smile and a wave. "She's doesn't take crap from anyone, and is way tougher than she looks."

"Hilarious." Finnick grumbled. "How the hell'd you end up with this asshole, bunny?"

"Well, he saved my life. Would've caught one right between the eyes if it wasn't for him. Once he told me his son was missing, I just had to help. Gotta do the uniform proud." Judy said, puffing out her chest drawing attention to her blue Minuteman uniform.

"Atta boy, Nicky. Savin' the damsel in distress. Always were a sap..." Finnick said, punching his old partner's arm. "Guess even the Minutemen need saving every now and again."

"Har har." Judy huffed, taking a sip of her own drink - some kind of mutfruit cocktail, "I'm actually having trouble believing all this. We've met _two_ mammals that Nick knew before the war in only a few days. Though one of them technically isn't a mammal anymore."

Finnick started laughing, shaking his head and pounding his fist on the bar a few times, causing Nick and Judy to exchange a brief glance. Looking around, it seemed like everyone else in the bar was equally confused, and … shocked?

"You two actually think that bucket of bolts is Valentine? And how the hell do you even know about him, rabbit?"

Before Judy could answer, Nick began to speak.

"I know it sounds crazy, Finn, but I think that's really Valentine in there... somehow. Sure sounds and acts enough like him."

"That's what synths _do_ , Nick. They look and act just like the poor bastards they replace. You really think that plastic fuckin' wolf is any different?"

"Yeah, I can't explain it. Everything about him just screams 'Valentine'. And besides, he's not the only mammal looking a lot different these days," Nick said, indicating Finnick himself.

"At least I'm still made of meat … but I see your point." the ghoul grumbled, waving down the Mr. Handy for another drink.

"Oi, was that you laughing, Tiny? Blimey, never thought I'd see the day…" the robot said.

"Just do your damn job, Charlie. Nobody pays you to talk." Finnick growled, passing his glass to the Mr. Handy, who quickly filled it with more bourbon and returned it to the fennec without another word.

"Oh, can I get shome more too please?" Judy asked, holding out her glass. She'd only had one glass, and her ears were already beginning to droop. She must be a real lightweight. Hell, maybe all bunnies were. It's not like Nick had ever sat down for a few drinks with one before.

Come to think of it … with how much Finnick had been packing away, he should be just as bad off as Judy, if not worse. He guessed being a ghoul came with a few extra perks.

Grabbing her glass and taking another sip, Judy turned to face the two foxes to her right, focusing in on the fennec in particular.

"So Finnick. Nick told me this thing about you the other day that I can't really get out of my head."

"Oh, so he's been talkin' shit about me, has he?" the fennec said, turning his sarcastic scowl Nick's way.

"I bet you badmouthed me at some point too, buddy." Nick said, before Judy continued.

"Shush, Nick." The rabbit leaned across the table to put the tip of her finger to Nick's muzzle. The two foxes exchanged a glance.

"Anyway, he said something about you dressing up and acting like his kit? How did that work?"

Finnick let out a loud groan, slamming his muzzle onto the bar.

"Fuck you, Nick." the fennec spat.

"What? I was just telling a new friend about one of my old friend's strange habit of dressing up in an elephant suit and pretending to be a kit. Not like I expected to run into you out here."

"It was _your_ goddamn idea in the first place. Fuckin' pawpsicles. If I never see one again, it'll be too soon."

Judy looked back and forth between the two foxes, puzzled by what they were talking about. Nick turned to her with a smug grin on his muzzle.

"You remember how I told you I worked at an ice cream shop in Concord? Let's just say I had a bit of experience beforehand with frozen treats, and leave it at that." he said.

"Was this a con you guys pulled?" she asked.

"You just won't leave well enough alone, will you? Yes … . That was the one I was telling you about, where Finn was able to get me some sympathy. Wouldn't have been able to get the ingredients otherwise."

"Uh huh. But what were these popsicles-"

"Ah ah! Not _**pop**_ _sicles_ , it's _**paw**_ _psicles._ We made them into the shape of a paw using Finnick's own tiny little pair."

"That seems… unsanitary." Judy said.

"Oh, like you'd know what sanitary looks like. You live in a metal shack surrounded by mutated crops. You've probably never been clean your entire life."

Judy let out several light, adorable giggles while trying to take another sip from her glass. She kept sticking her tongue out to try and hook the straw, which eluded her for sometime. Finally she snagged it and took a long sip.

"Well, If ever need to be shown what being clean _really_ looks like, I'll draw us a bath back in Diamond City." she said, leaning in close to Nick's arm and letting out more giggles.

Nick briefly turned to Finnick, what gave him a sly grin and waggled his brows- well, what was left of them- at his partner. Nick just rolled his eyes and turned back to Judy, who had now readjusted herself in her seat.

"So like, why did you guys even do that shtuff in the first place? Money too good to refuse?"

"HA!" Finnick snorted . "I fuckin' wish it was."

Nick chuckled at his partner, before responding to Judy.

"Like I told you before, Carrots. A steady job wasn't the easiest thing to come by for us foxes back then. Most of what we did was _technically_ legal, and despite what Finnick said, the pay was a lot better than you might expect. Sure is nice being your own boss."

"Sure _was_ nice, you mean." Finnick said. "Nowadays, you wanna get some money? Ya need to find someone to hook you up with a job. Hell, I bet someone in town's got something for you to do, if you need it. Pretty sure Bobbi's lookin' for some suckers."

"Well, whoever that is, I got more important things to worry about than making a few caps right now."

"Yeah, don't we all." the fennec responded.

The trio sat in silence for a few minutes, each one just enjoying the relative peace they had at the moment. Nick and Finnick each continued their drinks, with the fennec downing yet another shot of bourbon before his old partner even got halfway finished with his beer. Judy was swaying back and forth in her seat slightly, humming to the music that was playing throughout the bar.

As the gazelle's song came to an end and started a new, more upbeat song, Judy's "chair-dancing" increased in strength. She must have really liked this song. And by the looks of it, she wasn't the only one - several mammals moved themselves closer to the makeshift stage, hoping to get some better sound. That, or they _really_ liked the look of the gazelle in that dress. Either one.

"Oohhh I _love_ this song." Judy said, leaning on Nick's arm and briefly wrapping her own arm around it. "I'll be right back, m'kay?"

Nick chuckled at the sight of the tipsy rabbit before him. She certainly was amusing when she was like this. He just hoped she knew when to quit, otherwise it could make things that much more complicated down the line.

"Sure thing. Go ahead, Carrots." he said.

Judy did one more _adorable_ wiggle in her seat, before clumsily hopping down and moving up close to the stage. Even though she was easily the smallest mammal there, there was still enough space between some of the mammals so she could easily see the stage.

Nick turned to face Finnick. His old partner. Alive and in the flesh. The charred, deformed flesh. But the flesh, nonetheless.

"So... " Nick began "Looks like we get to have a nice little chat all to ourselves. Just you and me, fox to fox."

"Yeah, I guess so." the ghoul said, lightly twirling the bourbon in his half-empty glass.

Nick tried to think of something to say, but somehow nothing was coming to mind. For whatever reason, he was finding it much harder to start talking to Finnick alone. Judy had made it easier, asking questions herself that he could contribute to, but now he was just lost.

This small, angry fennec had to endure the greatest atrocity the world had ever known. He had survived the a _nuclear_ war, _and_ all the torture thereafter for two-hundred years. But just coming out and asking, "What was it like when the bombs fell?, "What did it feel like when you skin became burnt and sloughed off?", or "What was it like to see everything and everyone you knew and loved destroyed in an instant?" Nick didn't want to do that to his friend. He didn't want to make him relive those demons. Whatever Finnick had been, Nick always considered him part of the family, even more so these days.

Luckily, it seemed like he wouldn't have to - at least for now. Finnick decided to speak up after the comfortable silence started to become _un_ comfortable.

"Shit, Nick. You walkin' through the front gate with a damn bunny at your side was the last thing I expected to see today."

Nick chuckled in response, shaking his head and trying to at least act like things were normal between them. As normal as they could be, anyway.

"Well I sure didn't expect to see you here either, Finn. It's one hell of a surprise, that's for sure."

"Yeah, yeah. Look… I know I kinda… freaked out on ya' up there. It's just been… so long since I've seen someone that I actually fuckin' care about. So you know. Sorry about all that... n' whatever."

The red fox smiled at his old friend. Finnick was never good with apologies - rare as they were coming from his muzzle - but was always nice to hear him give one nonetheless, especially now.

"Don't worry about it." Nick said, giving the fennec a few firm pats on the back. "You were just a little spooked is all."

"Heh, spooked? Hell, I get spooked when I look in a mirror nowadays. _That_ was something else, Nick."

He was right. It was something else indeed.

"Now, don't screw with me here, Wilde. You're lookin' awfully… prepared, for someone from way back in the day. How long have you been out of that Vault?" Finnick asked.

"About… three days now." Nick replied, causing a surprised look to appear on Finnick's face.

"Shit, only three days? You're already startin' to look like a regular wastelander in that damn coat. And that laser rifle's gonna be real useful. Where'd you get all this stuff?"

"I picked up the clothes in Diamond City. Judy told me I should try to 'blend in' more. The rifle, believe it or not, was a gift from the Brotherhood of Steel."

Finnick stared at him with a look of confusion. "The fuckin' Brotherhood? Those self-righteous robot wanna-be's? If it weren't for that blimp, I wouldn't have thought any of them were up this far. The hell'd they give you a gun for?"

"Judy and I helped them out of a jam, gave us each a gun in return. Apparently they still owe us each one favor."

"Great. So a bunch of ghoul-hating maniacs are in debt to you. Better than the other way around, I guess."

' _Ghoul-hating maniacs? What the hell does he mean by-'_

"So, let me get this straight. In three days you've managed to rescue a bunny, convinced her to follow you around, saved some fanatics, found 'Valentine', and started on a personal hunt for the Institute?" Finnick said.

"Uh… yeah, that about sums it up." Nick said with a nod.

"Well, things are picking up faster for you than they did for me, that's for sure."

"What was it… you know… like?" Nick asked, his words escaping his mouth before he even thought about what he'd said.

A heavy sigh escaped Finnick's muzzle, before he tossed the rest of his drink back and set the empty shot glass down on the bar, staring blankly ahead. After several seconds, he began to speak.

"You know how they always used to show those damn videos on what to do if a nuke was comin' right atcha? Supposed to find cover, duck, shield your eyes, and all that? Well, it didn't do jack-shit." Finnick picked up his empty glass and signaled the Mr. Handy for more as he continued speaking. "I got lucky. Damn lucky. I was casin' some joint for a few guys - you know how it was with Big - when the sirens started goin' off. The owner was one of those paranoid types, damn badger built a bunker right under the store, told everyone that was small enough to get inside quick. When she tried to seal the door, that's when the ground started shakin' like no one's business. He must've closed it a little too late or something. That's how… _this_ happened." Finnick gestured to himself.

Nick didn't dare say a word. He'd let Finnick talk as long as he needed to.

"There were around… five of us down in that hole. We all started feelin' sick almost as soon as the door was sealed. Some time later, I'm the only one that walks back out, lookin' like shit. After that, I..."

Finnick stopped speaking, lowering his head and clenching his fist. What ever happened after that must have been nightmarish. Nick didn't think he even wanted to know what happened anymore.

"Hey, it's alright, Finn. You don't need to say anything else." Nick said.

"Man, I'm fine. It's just… You have no idea how fucked things were at first, Nick. The only thing I had for the longest time was just tryin' to find you and Shaun. I thought maybe you got into that Vault. Maybe you wound up like me. Maybe you were one of the bodies on the road… But after awhile, I stopped lookin'. Left the Commonwealth for a little while. Just kinda wandered around, tryin' to survive. Came back about… twenty years ago. Been livin' in Goodneighbor ever since... Look, to answer your damn question, it was like being dragged through Hell on the devil's own personal 'Fuck You' tour, with no way-"

"Finn!" Nick yelled, earning a few stares from some of the other patrons. "I get it, alright? I mean, I don't. I have no idea what that must've been like, and I'm sorry I asked. You don't need to tell me about it if you don't want to. I don't want to put you through hell again."

Finnick just scoffed at him, picking up his drinking and taking a quick sip.

"Nah, don't worry about it, Wilde. It's actually kinda nice talkin' to someone about this shit. But you gotta tell me now. What's this all like for you, Mr. Abominable Snowmammal?"

A genuine chuckle escaped Nick's muzzle, before he thought hard about what he'd experienced these past few days. Finnick had already summed up his thoughts about the world pretty well.

But there was one thing that constantly picked at the back of Nick's mind.

Something he'd been hoping to deal with since Concord.

"I mean, It's crazy, but I don't think I could say anything better than what you've already said, Finn. But… there is something I wanted to ask you about."

"Shoot." Finnick said.

"Okay. So back when I rescued Judy in Concord, she and the group she was with were surrounded by raiders, and I had to… kill some of them."

Finnick opened his mouth to speak, but Nick had a feeling that he already knew what he was going to say.

"Just let me finish, Finn. When we got back to Sanctuary that night, I realized that I… enjoyed it."

The fennec's ears perked up, and his eyes widened slightly.

"You mean like, the killing?"

"Yeah… I don't know why, it just-"

"Wilde, I getcha." Finnick said, interrupting his partner.

"No, Finn, I don't think you do. It's like I-"

"And I'm telling you, I _do_. Look, I think I might've had somthin' similar happen to me way back then. Whenever I had to fight, I just got… one hell of a rush. Is that what's happening for you?"

"Y-yeah. How did you deal with it?" Nick asked.

"To be honest, I didn't for a while. It helped me survive those first few years. Later on though, I learned somethin'. It ain't really a trick or anything, more like… a goal, something to focus on. For me, it was findin' you and Shaun. After that, it was just surviving… Look, just… try thinking about it this way next time you run into a few raiders. If you don't take them down, you'll never get Shaun back."

"And you think that'll help?"

"Hell, I don't know. It worked for me, but no guaranties, Wilde. The fuckin' wasteland changes you. Finding out exactly _how_ though, is tough. I got lucky, it just took my fur … mostly."

"O-okay. I'll give that a shot sometime." Nick said.

"Good, now stop actin' all mopey n' shit. We're supposed to be happy right now, right?"

"Heh, you make a great point. Ah, but there was one other thing I wanted to ask you. How did you know about Valentine?" Nick asked.

"That damn robot's came into town a hell of a lot these past few years. Always saw him around. What I'm wondering is why you even think it's the same wolf? How many brains have you seen put into a robot?"

"None, but that's not the point. He has the same memories, Finn. He even brought up that time at the airport, you remember that one?" Nick asked.

"I… I think so. We were… fuck, we took some idiot's taxi, didn't we?"

Nick laughed, very happy to be moving on to less depressing topics.

"Hey, they were the one that left the keys in the ignition. And it's not like we _stole_ it. We brought it back in the end, not a scratch on it. Even got it washed and filled it up. After we gave a few rides that is, at rush pricing!"

Finnick once again burst into laughter. Nick himself began to chuckle at the memory. Looking up, Nick could see each of the Mr. Handy's eyes pointed at the fennec, tilted to the side in confusion.

"You remember that damn beaver's face when we drove up in his cab? And then when you fuckin' convinced him that _you_ didn't take it? _Ha_! You and that fuckin' silver tongue of yours, I swear. Probably the reason she's with you, am I right?" Finnick gestured towards Judy, who was still dancing, enraptured in the music.

Before Nick could answer, the ghoul gave the larger fox a sly grin, before taking a quick look at the grey rabbit by the stage. "That, and… something else maybe? You two must've gotten… close, assuming my nose is still workin' right … Never knew you were into _that_ ," he said, gesturing again.

' _God dammit. First Piper notices, and now Finnick.'_ Nick thought. He sighed and took a mental note to try and bathe sometime soon (supposing he could find some soap) so could get back to smelling like a fox, not a bunny.

"It's not what you're thinking, Finn. She just-"

" _Don't_ you bullshit me, Wilde. Yeah, it's been two hundred years, but I still know how my boy smells - and it ain't like a bunny. Besides … she was hangin' on your arm just a minute ago. Practically flirtin' with you earlier. And what the hell did you call her? Carrots? Ya' already givin' each other cutesy nicknames n' shit."

"We didn't _do_ anything, Finn. _We're not together_ ", Nick insisted.

"That's what you told me about Clare."

"Well I was wrong, and that was before she was pregnant. That can't exactly happen with a rabbit and a fox …" Nick was halfway into his next sip when he realized the implications of his words. "Er, not that it even _will_ , since we aren't even together in the first place!"

"It doesn't take the Silver Shroud to put two and two together, dumbass. You got another reason you're drenched in her scent?"

"She was cold!" Nick exclaimed. "Valentine said she crawled into my sleeping bag with me when we were all camped out on our way back to Diamond City last night so she could be warm. _And_ she crawled back out before I woke up."

"Cold! She was cold? … Damn, Nick. You got it bad!" The fennec burst out in another bout of maniacal laughter. "Nicholas Wilde the prey chaser, HA! And that business with her crawlin' back out… We _both_ know that's how most nights go after hookin' up with a new girl!" The smaller fox was now nearly doubled over, lying as much of his torso as possible on the counter and pounding his fist in merriment.

"It's not _like_ that, Finnick. _Drop it._ " Nick shot back angrily, a growl under his voice.

"Woah… easy there, Killer. Jus' ribbin' ya. Ya' know, like we do?"

Nick sighed. "I know Finn, I know. It's just … things have been rough."

The fennec stared at Nick for a long moment.

"And it ain't gonna get easier, Nick. But let me tell you, seeing you again? Fuck, it's the closest I've been to feeling normal in a _long_ time."

"As normal as a walking corpse can feel?" Nick said, taking his glass and raising it in his paw, signaling Finnick to do the same.

"Hell yeah." the ghoul said, as they quickly toasted, and downed the rest of their drinks. "Anyway, Hancock is probably waitin' for me to get back to him. I should head up."

"Yeah, Valentine's probably waiting for us in the Memory Den too."

Finnick froze, turning to his old partner with wide eyes, and a serious expression.

"The Den? The fuck are you guys goin' there for?"

"Remember that Institute errand boy I told you about? The weasel had some kind of tech implanted in his brain. Valentine's hoping that we might be able to look through his memories, and find a way into the Institute."

The small fox to let out a heavy sigh, visibly relaxing, and looking about a thousand times better than he had only seconds before.

"Okay, thank God. But _listen_ to me, Nick. _Don't_ go to that damn place for yourself. I just got you back, man. I don't want to lose you again."

Finnicks words puzzled Nick, causing him to tilt his head and raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Look, the Den is worse than any of that shit you'll find in this hellhole. Psyco, Jet, you name it. None of that'll get you hooked like the Den."

A harrowing look came over the ghoul, his eyes looking downwards briefly before returning to Nick.

"When you're in there, it's real Nick. It's fucking _real._ You can lose yourself in there faster than anything, because it's not an escape. It's real … until it ain't. So let's just say I know how dangerous it is, and drop it, alright? I guess it's fine if you're goin' inside somebody else's head, but seriously, stay away from that place."

"Alright, Finn, no recreational memory usage for me.." Nick said, a sly smirk gracing his muzzle.

"Good." Finnick replied, hopping down from his seat. "Come find me after you're done in the Den. Ain't no way I'm gonna let my boy wander the wastes with only a tipsy bunny to protect him."

"Like I said earlier, she's a lot tougher than she looks. Just... not after she gets a few drinks in her, apparently."

"Hehe, and you would fuckin' know, wouldn't you? Take care of yourself, Wilde."

Nick rolled his eyes as the ghoulish fennec hopped off his barstool and towards the stairs leading to the station's entrance.

Once Finnick had disappeared from sight, Nick sat in his seat, waiting for the song the gazelle was singing to finish, so he could round up Judy and find a way to sober her up before they headed to the Den. Not that he didn't appreciate this little detour. He just found **Finnick,** of all mammals **,** _alive_ for fucks sake. He was overjoyed. One of the only friends he had before the bombs fell was still around, if a little different. Those two hundred years must've been tough.

And judging from the looks they'd been getting, no one had heard Finnick laugh before. He said he'd been living in Goodneighbor for close to twenty years now, and had never laughed? Not even once? Finnick never went into much detail about what all that time was like, but Nick could still see that his old partner had gone through hell.

Nick turned to look at Judy, who - like many of the other mammals around the small stage - was swaying back and forth to the beat of the song. She looked like she was enjoying herself, though that might have had something to do with her drinks.

As Nick just sat there, waiting for Judy to saunter back over to him, he heard a voice to his right.

"Hey, buddy." the voice said -raspy sounding like one of a heavy smoker. Nick turned to see a tan colored bunny or a hare - he was never good at telling them apart - sitting in the seat Finnick had occupied only a minute before. By the looks of it, he was around an inch or two taller than Judy.

"Uh… can I help you?" Nick asked.

"You came in here with that doe over there, right?" the small lapine asked, pointing towards the stage.

Nick turned to look at Judy, then back at the mammal sitting next to him.

"Yeah?" he said, still confused as to what he was talking about.

"Cool, cool. How much?"

Nick froze. If he was confused a second ago, then right now he was something else entirely.

"W- _what_?"

"You know, how much you want for her? I'll give ya… 500 caps. Sound good to you?"

Nick didn't respond... couldn't respond. He just sat there with his eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. Was this guy really offering to _buy_ Judy in plain view of everyone?"

The lapine apparently noticed Nick's shocked expression, letting out a small chuckle.

"Look, if she's not for sale, I get it. She is a _fine_ lookin' thing after all. But if you want to make a little money, me and some buddies of mine will be in the alley behind the Hotel Rexford for a little while. Just bring her back there, and we'll make a deal. Hell, we might even give you a turn."

At that, Nick's thought process completely changed. It was no longer shock and bewilderment. It was rage. Pure, unadulterated rage. How the hell could someone think about doing that to someone, let alone _Judy?_ She was just about the nicest living thing left on this whole planet, and this… this _waste of fur_ thought she was nothing more than an object - a commodity to be bought and sold, or something that he could _use_ just for a quick thrill or two.

Nick hadn't felt rage like this since he saw Shaun get kidnapped. But it was different this time - he could _do_ something about this.

His paw shot forward before Nick's mind could clearly comprehend his actions, grabbing the lapine by the ears and forcefully lifting him into the air. He quickly moved his other paw around the mammal's neck, apply pressure that was light, but clearly showed he was not messing around. He barred his teeth and a loud, menacing growl escaped his muzzle. The lapine's paw wrapped around Nick's larger paws, trying to free his neck, while his legs unsuccessfully tried to kick the fox.

"...The... fuck… asshole...?" the mammal said through choked breaths.

Snarling heavily, Nick leaned in close to make sure that he could make it _abundantly_ clear what would happen to this guy if he got within a _mile_ of Judy.

"I see you go anywhere near her?" He tightened his grip on his prey's ears. "I'll _bite_ these clean _off_. You got that, _asshole_?" Nick spat, sinking the tips of his claws in for added effect. The lapine tried in vain to let out a scream, but the guttural sound that came from him was heavily muffled by the tight grip around his throat.

"Nick!" the fox heard Judy yell behind him. He loosened his grip on the lapine slightly, but still kept his grip tight enough to keep him steady.

"Nick! Let him down!" Judy said again, moving up close to him and placing a paw on his back, immediately setting him at ease. He still wanted to beat the shit out of this bastard, but he figured he'd learned his lesson. If not, Nick would have a few choice words for him.

The fox place the rabbit down on the ground, releasing both his paw quickly, causing the lapine to stagger backwards and let out several loud coughs. He stared at Nick in anger at first, but it was quickly replaced by fear, and he dashed towards the stairs leading out of the station.

"Nick!" Judy yelled beside him, her face clearly angry. "What was that about! You can't just go picking fights with mammals half your size!"

"Even when that mammal offers to _buy_ one of your friends from you?"

The anger in her face cleared up, replaced with shock and confusion.

"W-what?"

"That bastard offered me 500 caps to take you behind some alley and let him and his buddies have their way with you. You see why I was so pissed off now?" Nick said.

"Oh...oh. Thanks for keeping him away, Nick." Judy spoke softly - her voice now void of any anger.

"No biggie, Fluff," he said, petting her head to comfort her. Well, actually more to comfort himself. "You think we should head over to see Valentine now? I think I've had enough of this place."

"Yeah, sure. Let's go."

As the two of them ascended the staircase, Nick subconsciously pulled his rabbit companion closer to him and made a firm mental note:

' _Keep an eye on Judy from now on.'_

' _You never know what kind of monsters might be after her.'_


	23. Echoes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I'd like to give a huge thank you to Quirk-Middle-Child for their incredible cover art for this story. It really is awesome and I can't thank you enough. Link: http://fav.me/dap7hpf
> 
> Second, it has been quite awhile since this story updated, but hopefully this chapter will be worth the wait.
> 
> Zootopia is property of Disney  
> Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda

Nick was hovering over Judy as the two of them walked inside the Memory Den. He had long since released the rabbit, but he still kept his guard up - just in case that lapine bastard or one of his buddies decided to try and jump the two of them.

' _God. I can't believe that just fucking happened.'_ Nick thought. He was still wrapping his head around how someone could even _think_ about doing that.

He tried to keep his head clear, to focus on the task at hand. From the looks of it, the Den was set up inside the old Olympia Theater, or at least what was left of it. Nick's dad had brought him to a show there once when he was younger - though he couldn't recall what it was about, just that he got bored after half an hour, and woke up in the car being driven back to his mom's place.

Immediately to their left as they walked in was the ticket booth, unoccupied by the looks of it, and to the right of that was an open door that lead into the theater.

When they rounded the corner inside, Nick actually found himself rather surprised. In stark contrast to most of the pre-war buildings he'd seen so far, the theater was in rather good condition, all things considered. The red wallpaper was mostly intact, along with the tiles on the floor. The large red curtains still hung from walls and ceiling, surrounding the place in a crimson hue. Nick felt a strange pang of something that wasn't quite nostalgia at the half-remembered decor..

But of course, not everything was the same.

Besides the unavoidable dust and debris, all of the seats had been moved. In their place sat three strange devices - lounge chairs with monitors and an ovoid lid to create an enclosure. They reminded Nick a tiny bit about the pods back in Vault 111, though these ones were definitely used for a different purpose. Two of them were empty, while the one that was occupied had a raccoon inside who looked positively euphoric - comfortably numbed to the harsh reality outside world.

' _These things must really work wonders…'_

"Oh, I think you two have stepped in the wrong place." A voice said, causing Nick and Judy to turn toward the stage. A cheetah in a red feathered dress was lounging comfortably on a parlor couch, her tail swishing lazily to and fro. She looked about as out of place in the wasteland as a pristine snowball in an oven. "Neither of you look like you need the Memory Den. Do you even know what we do here, or did you wander in?"

"You let people see their own memories, right?" Nick said, after exchanging a brief glance with Judy.

"That's correct, though 'see' hardly covers it. We let our… selective clients relive the past. And we don't accept just anyone."

"Why's that?" Judy asked.

"Well, it's no secret that reliving a memory can be about having a good time, or helpful in remembering something you've forgotten or lost. But - like anything worth doing in life - it's got a kick to it. Using it in excess can be… _traumatic_. So, I like to keep the client list small, and vette them carefully. And I'm sorry dears … I'm afraid there just aren't any openings right now."

"Irma, you don't need to bother!" They heard Valentine yell from further in the building. "They're with me. Send 'em down!"

"Oh, I didn't realise you two were with Valentine. Just head to the left here and go down the stairs. Dr. Amari should be able to help with whatever problem you two are having."

Nick just gave the cat a polite nod as they moved past her, heading down the staircase to reveal what looked to be some kind of lab in the theater's basement. Two more of the loungers were down here, along with various medical supplies and a large terminal connected to the two loungers . Nick immediately spotted the synthetic wolf talking to a badger in a white lab coat.

"There you two are." Valentine began. "What took ya so long? Did your fennec friend want you to have a few more drinks than was good for ya, Wilde?"

"No, we just… ran into a bit of trouble on the way here." Nick said, taking quick glance at Judy.

"Well, if there's a town in the Commonwealth that's good to find trouble in, it's Goodneighbor. Someone try and shake you down again or something?"

"I'll, uh… tell you about it later. So, what's going on?"

"I was just giving the good doctor here the rundown of what we know so far. She said that I was crazy for wanting to extract the memories from a dead brain, but that was before I showed her the gadget Kellogg had inside his noggin."

"Really? You think you can do something with it, Doctor?" Judy said.

"It is a possibility." The badger began with an accent that Nick couldn't quite place. "Our memory loungers require intact, living brains to function. If you were to bring me a regular old brain from a dead host, there would be nothing I could do. But this..." she said, holding up the small piece of Kellogg's cybernetically enhanced brain in her paw. "This makes it easier. A long shot, but easier. This hippocampus is in surprisingly good condition. How long has this mammal been dead?"

"Less than a day." Nick said.

"And where have you been storing it? Some sort of airtight container, I assume." Amari asked.

"Well, I wouldn't consider my coat pocket to be airtight, but it certainly is good for storing a bit of junk." Valentine said, earning a chuckle from both Nick and Judy, while Amari looked unamused.

"That isn't very encouraging Mr. Valentine, but regardless, there is still a chance that we can get a few memories out of this. Now, what kind of tech did you think this was?"

"Institute. The weasel it belonged to was working for them." Nick said.

"Institute? That certainly gives this thing a better chance of working."

Nick was feeling relieved. For a moment, he thought this entire trip was going to be pointless. Well, not entirely; he found out that Finnick was still alive, but that was more of an added bonus. A small, extremely angry, ghoulified bonus.

"So, how are we going to read the memories on that thing?" Nick asked.

"Well, I've already performed some tests on this while we were waiting for you two to arrive. I wasn't able to do very much. Institute tech is very specific. From what we know, it all seems to have a similar architecture, and we can't just adapt any old tech to work with something like this." Amari said.

"If only you had a walking, talking piece of Institute tech by your side. That'd be mighty convenient." Valentine said in a sarcastic tone, a smirk present on his synthetic muzzle.

"Ah, that's right! If we're lucky, we should be able to hook you right into the device. But even if this does work, you'd be taking an incredible amount of risk. We're talking about wiring something to your brain. Any number of things could go wrong."

"Save it, Amari. Let's do it." Valentine proclaimed, showing no fear at the thought of somehow harming his mind.

"Valentine, I appreciate this, but are you sure? I don't want you getting hurt somehow." Nick said, still concerned for the synth.

"Don't worry about me, Wilde. Besides, I feel like I still owe you for getting me out of that damn Vault. I think we'll be even after this one."

Nick smiled at his old adversary. He always knew that Valentine was a good guy, but he never expected something like this. Risking his mind for even the smallest chance of finding Shaun. The world was lucky to still have someone like him around, in whatever form.

"Alright. Whenever you're ready Mr. Valentine. Just sit down." Amari pointed to a swivel chair next to one of the memory loungers.

"If I start cackling like an old grizzled mercenary, pull me out, okay?" Valentine joked once he was in the seat.

Amari moved up behind Valentine, fiddling with something on the back of his head, before attaching the cybernetic brain-chunk to the synth.

"Good, it seems the connection is working. Now, I need you to keep talking to me, Mr. Valentine. Any changes in your cognitive functions could be dire." The doctor said, further increasing Nick's worried feeling. "Are you… feeling any different?"

Valentine's face was wincing while the doctor spoke. I didn't look like he was in pain or anything, more like… distressed. Something wasn't working right.

"There's a lot of… flashes… static… I-I can't make sense of any of it, doc."

"That's what I was afraid of. The mnemonic impressions are encoded. It appears that the Institute has one last failsafe. There's a lock on the memories in the implant."

"What?" Judy said. "Wha- how do you _lock_ a memory?"

"From what I can tell, the implant is encoding all the mnemonic activity in the hippocampus. Think of it like… a computer encryption. And we don't have the password."

"So what, we have to _hack_ the implant?" Nick asked.

"No, no. I doubt that's even possible. Hmm… a single mind wouldn't be enough to crack to code, but… what if we had two?"

"How will that get past the lock?" Judy asked.

"We'll load one of you and Mr. Valentine into the memory loungers. Run your cognitive functions in parallel. He'll act as a host, while the other's consciousness drives through the memories we can find. Now, I assume neither of you have used a memory lounger before, but it shouldn't be a problem here. There's much less risk involved when you aren't accessing your own memories. So which one of you wants to go through the memories."

"I'll do it." Nick said. Judy looked like she was about to protest, but stopped before she let out a single word. Nick guessed that she wanted to do it, as to not risk anything happening to her friend.

' _Selfless to a fault.'_

"Alright then. Take a seat in one of the loungers while I get Mr. Valentine ready. With him being an older model synth, it's going to take a bit of tampering to get it working with him."

Nick nodded before moving towards the lounger on the left and climbing inside. The seat was surprisingly comfy, and the way the thing was built seemed to suggest that almost any sized mammal could comfortably rest inside.

"Just so you know Nick, I think it'd be good for everyone if you _didn't_ start acting a bit more… weasely than usual after we're done with this." Judy said, earning a chuckle from Nick.

"I think that's only a concern for Valentine, but noted. No cackling from me." he replied.

"Good."

The lid to the lounger closed, concealing the fox inside while a terminal screen lowered in front of him, showing the old "Please Stand By" image that used to be shown while a television station wasn't transmitting anymore.

Other than a building sense of nervousness, Nick couldn't feel any different. Through the clear lid he could see Judy looking at him, giving Nick an optimistic thumbs up, which he returned. Doctor Amari was working on Valentine's lounger for a few minutes before she seemed finished, closing the lid on the synth.

"We ready doc? What kind of stuff do you think I'm gonna find in there?" Nick asked.

"I have no clue, but considering we only have a single piece of the medial temporal lobe, and not the whole brain, I doubt it'll be… cohesive. Just relax, and I'll see if we can find anything in there." the badger said before walking out of sight, most likely towards the terminal at the back of the room.

"See you on the other side, Wilde." Valentine said from the other lounger.

"Likewise, Valentine." Nick replied, bracing himself for whatever was about to happen.

"Initiating brain-wave migration between the transplant and the host… now." Amari said.

Nick could feel a slow, rhythmic pulse in the back of his mind slowly begin to surface. It was like something was banging on his head, trying to get out. His ears started to ring, and his vision began to whiten. He could still see Judy while the images of the real world faded from his vision, replaced by pure whiteness.

After a brief moment, the pulsing in his head began to subside, along with the ringing in his ears. The whiteness in his vision however still remained, and he made the startling realization that he couldn't feel any part of his body. This only increased the feeling of unease in Nick. He hoped that nothing had gone wrong.

" _Can you hear me?"_ an echoed voice said, startling Nick before realizing that it was Doctor Amari. He tried to respond, but found that he couldn't speak. " _Don't worry, I can easily detect your surface thoughts … so just 'think loudly' and I'll pick it up. Now, this may be slightly disorientating for you at first. You're going to be experiencing these memories as Kellogg. You'll have no control over your actions, because you can't change what happens inside a memory. Just stay calm, and focus on anything that might tell us the Institute's location. Here's the earliest intact memory I can find."_

Nick could see the whiteness begin to fade from his vision, and suddenly felt like he once again had a body, but it definitely wasn't his own. It was much too small.

When his vision fully returned, he could see that he was sitting on a bed, staring at various worn down comic books that were scattered about. He looked up briefly- but not by his own accord - at a female weasel sitting in a chair near the bed, reading from an old, dusty book. A radio could be heard to Nick's left.

" **And that makes it official, folks. The final vote count from the Hub is in: 55% in favor of joining the New California Republic."**

"Turn down the goddamn radio!" an angry male voice suddenly yelled from the other room. Nick felt Kellogg's body flinch, and a surge of fear suddenly ran through him. The voice on the radio began to speak again.

" **All five states have now signed on, which means as of this moment, we are all citizens of the New California Republic."**

"What's it mean, mom?" Nick heard himself say in a child's voice while turning to the female weasel.

"Nothing, Connie. Mammals like to talk and hope that someone else is going to keep them safe." she said in a cynical tone.

"The teacher at school said that the NCR would bring back the good old days. Like before that big war." the young Kellogg said.

"Don't you listen to that twaddle. I'm gonna stop sending you if that's what they're teaching you." she proclaimed before returning to her reading.

Nick watched through Kellog's eyes as they returned to the comics, reading through the stories of the Silver Shroud and Grognak the Barbarian. It wasn't long before the angry male voice began to shout once again.

"I'm going out… Where the fuck did you put my boots?" the voice yelled with a slight slur. It sounded like he'd been drinking. Nick could once again feel Kellogg's body tense up.

"Listen to me, Connie." Kellogg's mother said, causing Kellog's head to turn to her. Her book had been set down next to her, and she began to reach back behind her waist. "You take this. You're old enough." She pulled out a revolver and handed it to him. He nervously took it in his paws, examining it carefully. Nick could feel the cool gunmetal through Kellogg's paws.

"You're the man of the family now. It's your job to protect us. Your father's useless, but you won't end up like him. You're a good boy."

Nick felt comfort from these words, as if they'd been directed at him. He realized quickly that this must've been what Kellogg had felt.

"And all that on the radio - all useless talk. The only thing that will protect you in this world is that gun in your paws. You need to learn to use it if you're going to survive."

"I-I will mom. I promise. I won't let you down." The young Kellogg said, earning a smile from his mother.

"You've always been my good boy."

For a moment, Nick felt proud - a warm feeling that quickly gave way to confusion. This wasn't _his_ mother, but he still felt an echo. If he felt like this looking through some other mammal's memories, what would his own feel like?

" _This doesn't seem to be what we're looking for."_ the voice of Amari suddenly said, and the whiteness once again returned to Nick's vision.

It was so strange, seeing Kellogg as a child. Here was the mammal that had stolen his son from him, and he was just a kid. An innocent young kit. Not yet the merciless merc that they'd killed the day before.

Images began to appear once again, and Nick braced himself for whatever came next.

' _Let's hope we find what we need here. I don't want to browse through this weasel's entire life for no reason.'_

* * *

Judy was fighting the urge to bite at her short, blunt claws while Dr. Amari went to work. The badger was typing away to the terminal, with various pieces of text constantly popping up on screen.

' _How does she even make sense of it all?'_

"This doesn't seem to be what we're looking for." Amari said.

"What isn't?" Judy asked, causing the badger to turn towards her.

"Ah, nothing. An old childhood memory from what I can tell. We'll just have to keep going through the intact ones until we find what we're looking for."

"Oh…" Judy said, glancing at the two Nicks that were resting inside the pods. "Are they doing okay?"

"Yes, they're doing fine. I'm monitoring their vitals at all times, so if something goes wrong, I can pull them out."

"Okay. Good." Judy said, before starting to slowly pace around the room, only pausing to rapidly tap her foot against the ground every now and again. It seemed like this would take quite a bit of time. The doctor took notice after a few more minutes of her constant pacing.

"You know, this could take awhile. It wouldn't be a bad idea to go stock up on some supplies while you wait."

"Oh, I'm fine. I'd rather make sure they're both doing okay." Judy said.

"Are you sure? We won't know how many memories this will take until we're finished. You'll probably want to grab some food, if anything."

Judy was once again about to politely decline the offer, before the rumble in her stomach shut her up. She didn't need to leave, though. She had some carrots and mutfruit inside her bag to snack on.

' _Nope. You're going to stay right here and make sure your friend is okay. Your sly, handsome friend...'_

If Judy had been drinking anything when that thought popped into her head, she would've surely wasted an otherwise good mouthful of drink. She just thought that her friend whom she had only known for a few days - and who was a _fox_ \- was handsome.

' _Geez. Must've had a bit too much to drink earlier.'_ She had felt a bit of a buzz back at the bar, but was still in full control of her actions. The later revelation that someone wanted to _buy_ her caused her to sober up real quick.

Her thoughts quickly moved to Finnick, Nick's old friend from before the war - the second one they'd managed to find. Nick really is one lucky fox... he survives a nuclear war and still has a few friends around with him.

Admittedly, Judy was still very curious about Nick. He'd told her a lot, but not everything - almost nothing about his personal life. She could already tell that the two of them were going to be around each other for quite some time, so she wanted to _really_ know him. To help him out whenever she could, and if anyone was going to know anything deeper about Nick, it would be his old partner.

"You know, getting a bit of food isn't that bad of an idea. I'll just head out and be back in a bit." Judy said.

"Take your time. There's no telling how many memories are stored on this thing." Amari said before turning her attention back to the terminal.

Judy walked back to Nick's pod, laying her paw on the glass momentarily before turning and heading for the door.

' _Alright, Judy. Now where did that fennec run off to?'_


	24. A Faux Reunion

_**Zootopia**_ **_is property of Disney_**

_**Fallout** _ **_4_ _is property of Bethesda_**

* * *

Judy pushed the door to the old theater pushed open and made her way outside onto what could be described as the "main street" of Goodneighbor. The rabbit quickly eyed the mammals in the area to make sure that nobody looked to be waiting for her. This wasn't her first trip to Goodneighbor - her time as a Minuteman had brought her to the town on several occasions - and she knew that there were a lot of sketchy mammals around these parts. Not so sketchy that you can't safely walk down the main street, but the town had several alleyways that were out of view of the town's guards; that was where they always found bodies, two-bit chem dealers, or worse.

Judy was always alert in a place like this, but her senses were especially heightened, thanks to some sketchy rabbit out there that wanted to do her harm.

But she forced that concern to the back of her mind for now. She had to find that ghoulified fennec.

It shouldn't be the most difficult thing in the world. Ghouls weren't exactly uncommon in Goodneighbor, but the town wasn't nearly as big as Diamond City. She could easily see each of the walls on the main street that protected the townsfolk from any of the threats out in the ruins.

One of those walls - the northern one, if her internal compass was working right - had a rather peculiar addition to it that caught her eye. While the rest of the wall seemed to be constructed out of various pieces of wood and metal, there was a rusted down red van on the righthand side, reinforcing the wall's structural integrity. But this van wasn't like the rest of the worn down cars she'd usually find out in the wasteland. This one seemed… different. Most automobiles that were made before the war had sleek curves, but this one seemed to be the opposite - almost blocky, save for a slight curve from the front windshield to the roof.

Another strange addition was the paintjob. Rusted to hell - like all cars nowadays - but it had some sort of… mural on the side of it, which she couldn't make out very well from this distance.

Intrigued by the vehicle - and figuring that she had more than enough time to wait while Nick was digging through the memories - Judy started to move closer so she could get a better look. It looked like a… wolf, or some other canine in a stoic pose, holding an unconscious white female heroically in his arms. There also seemed to be lightning flashing behind them, though Judy could barely tell through all the rust.

It really was a peculiar piece of art. It just seemed so different compared everything else that was left from the war. Definitely not the standard style of the times.

"The hell you doin' bunny?" Judy suddenly heard a voice say, causing her to jump a few inches back. Her head shot to the source of the sound, finding it in the form of a ghoulified fennec she had been hoping to find, peeking his head around the back of the van.

"Cheese and… sorry, I didn't know anyone was here." Judy said, slightly stunned by the sudden appearance of the ghoul.

"Uh-huh. You wanna tell me why you're even out here right now? Ain't you supposed to be helpin' Nick in the Den?"

"Well, Valentine is helping him sort through whatever memories they can find, and there wasn't really anything I could do to help at that point. Actually, I was hoping to find you somewhere around here. I thought for sure you'd be somewhere in the State House."

"Yeah, well I just got done tellin' Hancock that I'm gonna be head out with Nick whenever y'all leave. Thought I'd get my stuff together before then." Finnick said.

"Wait, you're coming with us?" Judy asked, her head tilted slightly to the side. She certainly wasn't opposed to having an extra gun in the party, but she at least wanted to know the fennec's reasoning.

"What? You think I'm gonna let my boy walk out there alone out into that hellhole?"

"He's not going out there alone. I'll be watching his back."

The laughter that began erupting from Finnick didn't help her mood at all. It only made her more annoyed at the small fox.

"No offense rabbit,"

"Judy Hopps" she quickly stated, before letting him continue.

"Fine. No offense _Hopps_ , but who would you rather have wandering the wastes with you; a little bunny that think's she's all that, or a predator that's survived a nuclear fuckin' holocaust?

"Excuse me, _little_? I'm half-again as tall as you!" Judy yelled, moving closer to the fennec to help prove her point.

"Uh-huh, right … Well, it's not the size that matters, it's how you use it, am I right?" The fennec said with a lecherous wink.

Judy let out a groan and rolled her eyes. This fennec seemed to have an incredible ability to annoy her. It made sense, considering he knew Nick so well, but she didn't really find Finnick's teasing quite as charming as Nick's.

"Look Hopps, I've been surviving out here for 200 years. I've seen things that you can't even _imagine_ , not even any of that shit you Minutemen had to go through. Things are downright tame these days. Trust me, you'll want me along for the ride."

"I wasn't saying that you couldn't…" Judy brought her paw to rub at her temples before continuing, "Okay, we got off on the wrong foot here. Let's put that entire conversation behind us. I wanted to ask you a few things. About Nick."

"And why the hell can't you ask him yourself?" the ghoulified fox asked.

"For one, he's currently digging through the memories of an old weasel, so he's not exactly available for conversation."

"Alright. And?"

"And… I'm not really sure if he'd tell me everything. He's been surprisingly open these past few days, but he's… stretched the truth a few times." she said.

"Uh-huh. So that's what you're after? A way to get inside his head? Fuck that ..." Finnick scoffed at her, before moving back towards the van's back doors.

"Wait!" she yelled, moving to the back doors and peering inside. She could see a few little bits of furniture inside, but she wasn't all that focused on the decor at the moment.

"I know how that sounds, but I really just want to help him. Nick's a good guy, and I can tell he's got some things that are eating him up, and there's no way those things are going to be fixed without a little help."

"Hopps, up until an hour ago, I thought he was _dead_. I probably know that smug bastard better than anyone else ever has, so trust me on this on: Nick ain't the type to let others get too close. Last person that did that abandoned him and the kit."

"Yes, and we're trying to find that kit right now, but-"

"But nothing, carrot cake. Just let it lie, and things'll go a lot smoother." the ghoul said, taking a few steps into the interior of the van

"So that's it? You're not gonna help me?" Judy said, crossing her arms in frustration.

"I don't want to help you. I want to help Nick, but I ain't the one to do that, and neither are you."

Judy let out a sigh. This wasn't going the way she'd hoped, but she was not going to just let this slide.

"Look Finnick. I get that you and Nick have been through a lot together, but _please._ Just let me try. You said yourself that you can't help him, but you don't know me. Yeah, I might not be able to either, but I at least want to try. I'm not asking for every little secret he has, just a little insight. Please?"

The way the ghoul's eyes darted from her to seemingly random places around the van to her that he was at least considering it, which was a step up from just a moment ago. After a few seconds of careful consideration from Finnick, he let out a heavy sigh and sent a scowl Judy's way.

"Fine. I'll play ball for now. What do you want to know?"

* * *

" _There appears to be another intact memory close to you in temporal sequence… there."_ Nick heard Doctor Amari's voice say, before the plain whiteness in his vision was once again replaced by a view that wasn't familiar to him.

This time, he was standing over a firewood stove, preparing some kind of meat dish in a pot. He could see that his paws were now much too large to be a child's, but still too small to be his own.

"It's gonna be fine, you'll see." he heard the voice of Kellogg say, before Nick's head briefly turned to the right to see another weasel; grey fur, with a few black specs dotted about their face. A female by the looks of it, wearing a worn green flannel shirt and some blue jeans. She was standing over a sink, apparently washing dishes. Every few seconds, the shadow of a ceiling fan would pass over her.

"But we don't know anybody here." the female weasel spoke, clearly concerned. "And now with the baby…"

Nick felt his body move away from the stove and turn to face the other weasel, taking a few light steps towards her until she was within arms reach. His eyes stopped briefly on a crib on the other side of the room, and a small brown body inside. Nick's eyes turned back to the female, before they glanced quickly outside, revealing as sight Nick wouldn't have expected to survive a nuclear war.

' _The Golden Gate Bridge? How the hell did that thing survive? None of the bombs must've hit San Fransisco, or-'_

"Come on, Sarah, you've got to give it a chance." the voice of Kellogg began, interrupting Nick from his thoughts. "I've finally got steady work with a good outfit. Nothing like that in the NCR these days."

Sarah set down the dishes into the sink, wiping off her paws on her jeans before turning to face the small table that sat in the middle of what seemed to be a small apartment of some kind.

"I'm not saying this was a mistake, I'm just…" Sarah said, raising a paw to rub at her temples before sitting in one of the chairs at the table. Nick moved right next to her, remaining standing.

"Are you sure these guys know what they're doing? They seem kind of… green."

Nick could feel a huff of air come out out his nose, before Kellogg started his reply.

"I know. But that's where I come in. Just wait. In a few years, I'll be running my own crew, as soon as I make the connections I need. Then I can give you anything you want. And little Mary too." Nick's eyes once again glanced at the crib, before turning back to Sarah.

"I never worried about you before. Must be my mama instincts kicking in. Who knew I had those, huh?" she said with a light chuckle.

Nick heard Kellogg's voice let out his own laugh, and while Nick himself was not making the sound, he could feel it in his chest and throat.

"Come on, you're great with her. And you don't need to worry about me. Most of it's just running security for the Shi. A lot of standing around looking tough."

"Well, they sure picked the right mammal for that job." Sarah said, turning her head away from Nick, now looking at the crib.

"Listen. It's going to be great here." Kellogg's voice started, before Nick felt his arm move to his hip, gripping tight on what felt like a gun. When his arm was brought forward, a revolver was placed on the table; the very same revolver Nick had seen in the previous memory.

"See this? This is what's going to keep you and Mary safe. I promise." Kellogg said, before placing the gun back in it's holster.

"I know, Connie. I'm sure we're gonna be really happy here." Sarah said, and Nick felt his paw move forward to rest on her shoulder, and he could feel a smile spreading across his muzzle. He really felt like he… cared for this woman, even though he had no idea who she was. It must've been another side effect of re-living another mammal's memories.

But the sudden pang of sadness, the rush of jealousy? Nick knew that came from him. This weasel had lived the kind of life Nick had hoped for him, Shaun, and Clare - if only for a time.

Crying could suddenly be heard coming from the crib, prompting a response from both of the weasels.

"It's okay, I've got her." Kellogg said, as he began to move over to the crib.

" _Nothing useful here, let's keep looking."_ the voice of Amari suddenly said. It would've cause Nick to jump, if he'd had any control over his actions.

His vision faded once again to a sterile bright white, the feeling of anything physical gone. After a short moment, his vision returned. He could see he was in a long hallway that curved slightly to the right. The series of pipes running along the walls and ceiling suggested that this was somewhere in a large basement. He could feel a heavy rifle in his paws as he walked.

" _How did you think this was gonna end, Kellogg?"_ a rather sinister voice suddenly said. Nick's body didn't react in any way to the voice, nor did the voice of Kellogg.

" _Heh, you thought you could fuck with us, and we wouldn't fuck with you?"_ it said again, and still no response of any kind came from Kellogg.

A metal door could be seen at the end of the hallway, and as Nick's body approached, he felt something building in him.

Rage.

Something happened to Kellogg.

Something that made him so full of rage that even Nick was starting to feel it's effects.

" _Just so you know - it wasn't quick, and it wasn't painless. They suffered, and you weren't there to help them."_

Nick's body approached the door, and all that rage that was building inside Kellogg transferred its way into his foot, sending a door flying open.

From here, Nick's vision became white. He felt his body start to fade.

He heard machine gun fire.

Screams.

Both Kellogg's, and others.

The smell of iron and burnt gunpowder.

A sense of hollow satisfaction.

And then nothing.

' _What the hell was that?'_ Nick thought loudly, hoping that Doctor Amari would hear it.

Sure enough, a response came almost immediately after the thought finished.

" _That was a fragmental memory leak. It's basically when two related memories start to blend into one another. They're extremely rare in a normal brain, so it's not surprising we ran into one of those in this brain, what with how much things have deteriorated."_

' _Yeah, well do you think I could get a break ? This is getting a little intense.'_ Nick thought.

" _Unfortunately, that isn't an option. Because we're running this through both your brain and Valentine's head, it would make it exponentially harder to find the place where we left off. We'd have to synch it at almost the exact same moment, otherwise any number of things could go wrong."_

' _What? That doesn't make any sense, doc.'_

" _And I don't expect it to, either. Just trust me here. I've been doing this for nearly thirty years, and I still haven't figured out everything. Just tell me when you're good to go. I've already got another memory ready."_

It seems there were no brakes on this train.

Fine. If this is what he had to do to find Shaun, he'd do it for as long as it takes.

' _I'm ready, let's do it.'_

* * *

"Bunny, are you gonna ask a damn question, or not?" Finnick asked, clearly annoyed by her sudden silence.

"Sorry." the rabbit sitting in the small chair across from quickly replied. "Just thinking about what to ask."

"Well think faster, before I go feral from boredom."

' _Charming.'_ Judy sarcastically thought. As far as foxes go, she definitely preferred Nick.

"Alright, let's start with you and Nick. How did you two meet?" She soon asked.

"On the job." he replied bluntly.

"Okay, that's… vague. What job was this?"

"The one we met at."

Judy furrowed her brow and tried to repress a scoff. This ghoul was being much more difficult that he needed to be.

"Fine, I guess we'll just skip that one… Nick's childhood. Do you know much about it?"

"Not much."

"As in…?" she continued, leaning forward slightly as if it would encourage Finnick to talk more.

"As in he never told me much, so I had to piece shit together on my own."

"So what did you figure out?"

"It wasn't easy. He was fine at home, and both of his folks were good to him, but everywhere else was probably hell for him. I'm guessin' he got bullied most of the time."

Judy was saddened to hear this. Based on what Nick had already told her, it seemed like he had to put up with a lot as a kit, but being bullied was just terrible. She'd had to put up with stuff like that when she was younger because everyone saw her dream as crazy and unrealistic, but Judy imagined that what Nick had to go through was probably worse.

"Was it because he was a fox?" she asked.

"Damn right. Those assholes never gave him a chance. I think he tried to join some kinda scout troop as a kit, must've been the only fox there or somethin'. Nicky let it slip one time that they muzzled him when he tried to join up."

"What? That's awful!"

"That was being a fox back in the day, Hopps. Things are a little better now… as long as you still got fur." Finnick grumbled, looking down at the bare skin on his paw.

A long silence sat between them as Judy pondered her next question. She would've been faster, but her mind kept showing her images of a young Nick trying to get a muzzle off himself. It filled her with both sadness and anger.

Soon enough another topic popped into her head, and she continued to question the fennec.

"What do you know about Shaun's mother?"

"So Nick told you about Clare, huh? Figures. Must've come up while you two were talkin' about the kit."

"Yeah, probably. What happened between the two of them?"

"You mean besides gettin' knocked up?" he said with a deep laugh. "Nah, I'm just kiddin'. They always seemed fine from what I could tell, but… I don't know. I just never felt like she was the kind of gal for him, you know?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Because they didn't really seem to fit. Hell, Nick always said that they were never serious. Just called each other up when they wanted a good time. Must've called one too many times if you ask me … Still, he tried to make it work for the kit. Hell, I think he thought he could hold things together all on his own."

Judy was trying to think of ways to move this along. It wasn't that Finnick was being annoying or unhelpful, but him talking about this stuff put images in her head that she didn't really want to be thinking about.

"So, uh… how did they split up?" Judy asked.

"They didn't. Not too long after the kit came out she left while Nick was asleep. No note, nothing. He tried lookin' for her for a little while, even had her old man almost kick his ass, but he never found nothing. Always said he was fine, but I could tell it had messed him up pretty good. He moved up to that suburb not too long after, and then came the big kaboom."

' _Poor Nick.'_ she thought. He was so close to having some sort of happiness in his life. A family. And it was taken from him just like that. And not even in some sort of romantically tragic way where they said they loved each other before one of them was lost forever. She just up and left him without a word. How could she do that to Nick?

"You done with your questions yet, rabbit? 'Cuz I ain't figured you out yet."

Judy didn't respond, just raised an eyebrow at him and cocked her head slightly to the side.

"The kinda shit you two have been through in only a few days? Most folks woulda quit as soon as they got to Diamond City. So tell me this. The fuck do you care about him?"

"I told you, he's a good guy and he needs help. It's what the Minute-"

"Oh please, I've been around the wastes long enough to know how full of shit the Minutemen are… were. Any other halfwit Minuteman would have left as soon as you got that hunk-a-junk Valentine wanna-be on the case. But here you are - in probably the most dangerous settlement in the Commonwealth - helpin' him hunt down the Institute, the fucking boogiema, literally digging through some asshole's brain … just because Nick's a 'good guy'? What the hell you playin' at, bunny?"

"Really, I… look, the it's complicated, alright?" she said.

"I bet it ain't half as complicated as your cutesy little rabbit head thinks it is. So just tell me right now, Hopps; The fuck are you _really_ here for?"

Judy gulped, wondering how this ghoulified fennec was able to read the situation so well. With old age comes wisdom, she supposed.

Fine. She didn't have anything to hide. Not from this ghoul, and not from Nick either.

* * *

' _God damn, this is wearing me down.'_ Nick thought.

Going through all of Kellogg's memories was turning into a real hassle. So far none of the memories they'd found had anything that could give them even a hint as to where the Institute and Shaun were. At this rate, it was possible that none of the intact memories would be of any use, and then they'd be completely lost on what to do next.

If the last few memories were any indication, then they weren't going to get anything from this brain.

Discussing the payment for killing a family of beavers because their neighbors wanted more land.

Convincing the Institute to hire him by wiping out an entire group of synths singlehandedly.

A dark figure with red eyes, and a pair of long ears in the distance. A strangely foreign sense of fear. The crackling retort of a far off rifle.

None of it helped Nick.

He was starting to give up hope, but evidently Doctor Amari had found a few more intact memories she wanted him to take a look at.

' _It had better be worth it.'_

He started to feel his body fade into existence once more, and when his vision returned he was greeted with a strangely familiar sight. A feline in a blue environmental suit. Pipes and tubes running along the ceiling and walls into strange pods. And on the other end of the room, a much smaller pod laying on a table.

' _No.'_

He could hear mammals inside the pods pounding on the doors, but the one across from the small one was the loudest of them all. The feline moved up to the small pod, inspecting it briefly before turning to face Kellogg.

"This is the one. Here sir." she said.

"Open it." Kellogg's voice replied.

' _No, no, NO!'_

The feline opened the door to the small hatch while muffled screams could be heard coming from the adjacent pod, before she pulled out a crying infant fox wrapped up in a blanket.

' _Shaun!'_

"Come on, get the kid warmed up and let's go." Kellogg's voice said. before Nick's body turned to face the adjacent pod. The red fox inside was downright furious, pounding his fist on the pod door and snarling his teeth at Nick.

He felt a sick sense of pity, revulsion and felt a wave of confusion crash over him. He was there, yelling at himself - no at Kellogg? Which was he?

"At least we still have the backup." Nick heard Kellogg mutter. The fox inside said something to him, but he couldn't tell exactly what through both the door and his snarling teeth. Something about "when I get out of here." Probably a threat. He felt himself laugh.

"Good luck with that." Kellogg replied, turning to follow the feline out the metal doors.

' _SHAUN!'_

Nick suddenly felt his body and vision fade, and he was again surrounded by a numbing whiteness.

" _I'm uh… sorry you had to go through that again."_ Amari said after a brief silence. " _I didn't know that-"_

' _It's fine. Let's just go to the next one.'_ It was a lie. He just wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Did she know if he was lying? He hoped not.

" _Alright. Here's the next intact memory."_

When his vision returned Nick could see the inside of a house. _Kellogg's_ house. The one he'd been in just yesterday.

He was cleaning that same revolver with a dirty brown rag when a swish of an red and brown tail cause Kellogg's eyes to look up.

A young fox - probably no older than ten - was sitting on the floor next to a radio, reading through several old magazines that were laid out on the floor. He had on blue and white striped shirt and blue jeans on. His fur was a very familiar shade of red, with bits of brown on the tips of his ears, tail, and paws. The kit looked up briefly at Nick with a pair of bright green eyes before turning back to his magazines.

' _Shaun!'_ Was this really him? He looked so grown up that Nick couldn't be sure. He knew that several years had passed since his son had first been taken, but to be suddenly faced with it ...

Nick didn't care about what was happening in the memory. He didn't even hear what Dr. Amari had said when she spoke up. His son was right in front of him, healthy and alive. He was going to cherish this moment.

When Kellogg's eyes looked back down to his gun, Nick tried his best to look back, but to no avail. He wasn't in control. All he could do was sit back and watch.

His head snapped forward when the door in front of him opened, and Nick's arm immediately raised the revolver at the black wooled ram that walked inside. It wore a dark leather longcoat, as well as a pair of patrolman's sunglasses to help cover his face.

"Kellogg." the ram said in a cold voice, devoid of emotion.

Nick felt his arm lower the gun and Kellogg let out an audible sigh.

"One of these days you're gonna get your head blown off, just barging in here like that."

"Minimizing my exposure to civilians is a priority." the ram replied, just as monotone as before.

"Forget I said anything." Kellogg quickly said, holstering his gun and getting up from his chair. "So, what's the big crisis this time?"

"New orders for you. One of our scientists has left the Institute."

"Left? As in…?"

"He's gone rouge. Name's Doctor Brian Virgil. We know he's hiding somewhere in the Glowing Sea. Here's his file." the ram said, handing Kellogg a folder with several papers inside. He opened the file and quickly skimmed over the contents.

_Name: Brian Virgil_

_Species: Brown Rat_

_Sex: Male_

_Department: Bioscience_

"Wow. Some heads are gonna roll for this. Capture and return or just elimination?" Kellogg asked.

"Elimination. He was working on a highly classified program."

"No kidding." He continued reading the file. "One of the top bioscience boys? Damn."

He closed the file and placed it down on the desk, glancing briefly over at Shaun.

"So, I guess this means you're taking the kit back with you." Kellogg said.

"Affirmative. Your only mission is to locate and eliminate Virgil."

"You're taking me home to my father?" Shaun said, earning the attention of the other two mammals in the room.

' _What? His father?_ _ **I'm**_ _his father! I'm right here Shaun!'_

"Yes. Stand next to me and hold still."

Both the ram and Shaun took a few steps away from Kellogg before stopping.

"And Kellogg …"

Nick felt his eyebrows raise.

"I trust that the ranger won't be a problem."

"I've got it under control."

"Good. This is X6-88, ready to relay with Shaun." the ram said, speaking to nobody in particular.

"Bye Mr. Kellogg! I hope I can see you again soon!" Shaun said, waving goodbye to him with a big happy smile on his face.

In an instant a flash of light enveloped each of the mammals, replacing the spot they had occupied only seconds ago with nothing but empty space.

"Bye." Kellogg said, turning around to and sitting back down in his chair.

Whiteness started to fill Nick's vision, before Doctor Amari spoke up.

" _Teleportation! Now it all makes sense. Nobody's found the entrance to the Institute because there_ _ **is**_ _no entrance! Let me just pull you out of there and we can discuss things further."_

Nick started to feel that same rhythmic pulse in the back of his head as he had when he entered the lounger.

His eyes shot open, his head dashing around at the small basement. He moved his paws around his body, making sure that he was actually real, and not just in some other memory.

He could see Dr. Amari helping Valentine out of his lounger, messing with a few of the mechanical bits at the back of his head just to make sure the synth came out of it okay.

"Well I'll be damned. That actually worked." Valentine said once he was on his feet.

"Believe me, I'm just as surprised as you. The badger said. "No one's ever done that before. Are you two okay?"

"Never better. Why wouldn't we be?" the synth said, while Nick just stared at them from the lounger he had yet to get up from.

"Well, he should be fine." She pointed quickly at Nick, taking note of his distant stare into nothingness. "Should be. But I'm more worried about you, Mr. Valentine. There's some potential that some mnemonic impressions may have been left over from the implant."

"And that means?"

"It means that… just come back here if you start feeling anything… strange. Like you aren't… fully in control." Amari said.

"Jeez, Amari. Way to lighten the mood." The detective glanced briefly at Nick, noting the fact that he still hadn't moved from the lounger.

"You doing alright there, Wilde? Don't tell me that thing turned your brain into mush or something."

"Huh?" Nick asked, his eyes darting back and forth between the two figures in front of him. "Oh, yeah, I"m fine. That was just… I don't know. Surreal I guess."

"Yeah, you can say that again. At least we got what we came for. We're looking for a rat somewhere inside the Glowing Sea." Valentine said

"Wait, the Glowing Sea?" a voice suddenly said, and all three mammals in the room turned to see Judy and Finnick come down the staircase. "Why do we have to go there?" Judy asked.

"About time you decided to join us Ms. Hopps. What were you two doing out there anyway?" Valentine asked.

"Just talking." Judy replied, prompting a response from Finnick.

"Yeah, I was just makin' sure this bunny wasn't trying to play Nick for a fool. She seems alright."

"Well that's swell, everyone's getting along. Anyway, the Glowing sea. Turns out the rat that Kellogg was hunting decided to bunker down in a place almost nobody could get too. How such a small thing could even get there alive is beyond me," Valentine said.

"So... wait. What exactly is this 'Glowing Sea'?" Nick asked, and a quick response from the synth soon followed.

"Well, imagine Hell on Earth, then populate it with as many deathclaws, radscorpions, and feral ghouls as you can find. Oh, and don't forget about the occasional rad-storm that pours out onto the city just for good measure."

"Rad-storms? Those don't sound fun."

"Nah, they're just fuckin' peachey." Finnick stared before Valentine could respond. "Like a thunderstorm with a slight tingly sensation that burns through your fuckin' clothes."

"Damn. So how are we even gonna find this guy if _that's_ the kind of stuff we have to go through?"

"Well, I might have a few ideas." Amari began. "First off, these two won't be affected by radiation, so they won't need any protection from that-

"Uh, that's where you're wrong, doc." Finnick began, interrupting the badger from her thoughts. "I might be able to survive in that hellhole, but I sure as fuck wouldn't call it livin'. That many rads in one place would rot my brain faster than you could say 'feral.' I ain't goin' in there without somethin' to keep my head straight."

"Okay, well... I believe there is a store in Diamond City that makes hazmat suits, is there not?"

"Yeah, Fallon's Basement." Judy replied.

"Alright. The three of you could get a suit and be safe from the rads."

"Problem is there wouldn't be anything to help differentiate our insides from our outsides if a couple of deathclaws decide to charge us. We're gonna need some tough armor to survive that journey." Valentine said.

"Hmm… I suppose you could use power armor then." Amari suggested. "Get protection from both radiation and physical damage. Of course, I don't even know where you'd find _one_ suit, let alone three or four, and not to even mention that you're all far too small to fit in one."

' _Damn. She's right.'_ Nick thought. Was this it? Where they stuck here with no way to get to this Virgil guy? There had to be another way. Surely someone out there in the Commonwealth could help them.

' _Maybe someone has a secret tunnel they know of, or had some crazy serum that makes you immune to radiation. Maybe there's some guys out there that like power armor and have a bunch of advanced tec-'_

A lightbulb went off inside Nick's head, and he wanted to slap himself for not thinking of it sooner.

' _Really, brain. Your stupidity amazes me sometimes.'_

"You know, I just remembered something." Nick began, catching the attention of everyone else in the room. "As it would turn out, Judy and I each have a favor to call in with an old friend."


	25. Something's Gotta Give

**_Zootopia is property of  Disney_ **

**_Fallout 4 is property of Bethesda_ **

* * *

 

_“He’s hackin' and whakin’ and smackin' ..._

_He’s hackin’ and whakin’ and smakin' ... ”_

“Wilde! Would turn that shit off already?” Finnick growled, turning around briefly and shooting a scowl Nick’s way.

“What? You lose your taste in music in your old age?” The fox replied.

“Just shut it. I’ve heard enough of that stupid song over the last 200 years to last a hundred lifetimes. Of all the songs that could’ve survived the bombs, why did _that_ have to be one of them?”

A few paces ahead of the two foxes, Judy stopped and stared at the scene in amusement.

“Huh. I would’ve figured you’d like the music from your time,” she said.

The fennec wheeled in place to stare bug eyed at Judy.

“My time? That shit was like a hundred years old before I was born!”

“Oh, come on,” Nick said. “That didn’t stop you from getting every Jerry Vole record you could get your paws on.”

“Yeah, cause he’s classic!” Finnick protested. “And at least they had some of his music out west. Over here they got nothin’ worth a damn …”

“That right?” Valentine said from the back of the group. “And here I was thinkin’ you had the hots for that dame in the Third Rail.”

“Nobody asked you, tin-mammal,” Finnick grumbled, “At least Gazelle puts out _new_ songs. And Nick! I said to shut that thing off.”

“Alright, alright. Take it easy, Finn,” Nick said as reached for his pip-boy and turned off the radio.

The ghoulified fennec only grumbled and increased his pace, his trusty bat now slung over his shoulder. The other shoulder featured an old and heavily modified lever-action rifle, which Finnick only referred to as “My Gun”. It looked to be built off an old Henry, but was chambered in .38 and lacked a stock, but featured a sawed-off barrel. It was clear that this was no Raider gun, cobbled together from whatever rusted pipes and scrap metal was available. The metal was well oiled, despite its age, and the fennec had a custom sheath made for it, so clearly he’d had it for quite awhile.

“You know, your old friend there hasn’t changed a bit,” Valentine said.

Nick let out a chuckle. He had to agree that even after all the hell Finnick had been through over the past 200 years, he still was same grumpy fennec he remembered.

“Well, he always was stubborn. It’s gonna take a lot more than the end of the world to change him.” Nick replied, before the synth picked up his own pace.

They were only a couple miles out from Diamond City, with Finnick and Valentine charting a safe route through the ruins of Boston. Nick was thankful that the closest they came to any real violence was the occasional distant gunshot that echoed around the desolate streets.

Their plan of action was simple: get some rest for the night in Diamond City, stock up on any supplies they needed, and then head back towards Cambridge in the morning to find Paladin Danse. If anybody had access to the kind of hardware they would need to survive the Glowing Sea, it’d be the Brotherhood.

Valentine had already told them that he wouldn’t be going that far, and judging by how the Paladin had reacted to the synths at Arcjet a few days ago, Nick couldn’t blame him. Judy and Valentine had suggested that maybe Finnick shouldn’t go either, seeing as how the Brotherhood saw any form of ghoul as an abomination, but the ghoul was having none of it.

As the fennec put it, “I don’t give a damn what they think of me. I ain’t lettin’ Nick wander around this wasteland without a little backup.” Nick appreciated that Finnick was so willing to stick by him, but he did have to admit that he was concerned for his old partner’s safety.

As they walked, Nick was pulled from his thoughts by a nudge on his right, which he quickly realized was from Judy.

“Hey, you got a minute?” She asked.

“Yeah, I suppose - now that the Big Guy up there is done with his temper tantrum. What’s up?”

“So… there’s been something I’ve been meaning to tell you…” the rabbit began somewhat meekly.

“What about?” Nick said.

“Well… back in Sanctuary I agreed to help you get to Diamond City to try to find your son. I wanted to do that because I knew it was the right thing to do. But… it wasn’t the _only_ reason…”

Nick raised an eyebrow.

“Hopps, if you’re about to tell me you have a crush on me, then I swear I-”

“No, you dumb fox!” she quickly interrupted with a light, playful punch and a slight smile, which Nick returned before Judy continued.

“It’s just… the way your son was taken. Shady mammals entering a Vault just to take one kit? That’s not normal - even for the wasteland. And recently there have been a lot of disappearances in the Commonwealth that aren’t normal. Somebody’s fine one day, and the next they’re gone without a trace, no note, no personal items missing, just… gone.”

“So I’m guessing you knew somebody that vanished?” Nick asked.

Judy glanced up at him briefly before turning her attention back to the crumbling road in front of them.

“Yeah... It was one of my older brothers, Sam. He was _the_ oldest actually,” Judy began, her ears drooping slightly. “He went out one night to check on the crops and was never seen or heard from again. Mom and Dad put up a huge fuss with the DC guard. Only reason we weren’t blacklisted was because we grew the city’s food.”

“How old were you?” Nick asked quietly, the sudden seriousness in his voice mirrored in a direct gaze that Judy had seldom seen. Where before the fox’s eyes held a glimmer of mirth, here she saw nothing but somber, unvarnished concern.

The rabbit found she couldn’t hold his gaze, and turned hers back down to her feet.

“Nine. It was a really strange thing at the time. Suddenly your older brother is gone and you have no idea why. You ask your parents and they don’t have an answer. You ask the guards and they just tell you to run off and keep your mouth shut about the whole thing.”

Judy stopped as she felt a weight on her shoulder. Turning, she saw it was Nick’s paw. He was still staring at her.

“Hey … you don’t - if you’re not ready, I-”

“I’m fine, really. It’s just… been awhile since I’ve _really_ thought about it.”

Nick placed a second paw on Judy’s other shoulder and gently turned her to face him.

“Judy,” the fox said softly. “Whatever you need, I’m here.”

He smiled warmly and said, “Least I can do.”

“Thanks Nick,” the rabbit said, returning the smile before resuming her normal pace. “Anyway, it was real rough on all of us. Sam was the first. My parents never really got over it. You wouldn’t believe how scared they were when I said I was going to join the Minutemen. Because they knew they were going to lose me just like they lost Sam. Not in the same way, but…”

“I can understand that fear,” Nick said. “No parent wants to lose their child.”

“Yeah, well... But I gotta try. If he’s out there, somewhere…”

Judy stopped.

“He’s the only one that told me that my dreams weren’t stupid. He didn’t tell me I couldn’t, he just said it would be hard. And he promised to help however he could. Just like I’m gonna help you, Nick. It’s gonna be hard, but we’ll do it. We’ll find your son.”

Nick nodded and said, “And we’ll find your brother.”

“And if you stand there in the road, you’ll find a bullet in your damn skull! Pick up the pace! We don’t have all day here, Wilde!” Finnick suddenly yelled from up ahead.

Nick stared at the old fennec up ahead, and suddenly he felt a small paw grasp his and give it a quick squeeze. He turned to see Judy beaming up at him, before she released his paw and continued down the road.

Nick couldn’t help but smile back.

* * *

 

After awhile, they made their way to the gates of Fenway. Even after two hundred years of desolation, Nick was still impressed at how the residents of Diamond City had maintained it.

The four of them had made good time, reaching the main gate just before sunset. The few guards they had passed gave the group a long look, which Nick supposed made sense. They were a rather odd bunch.

The four mammals were just about to head through the main gate of the city before Finnick stopped them.

“I’ll wait out here. How long you gonna be?” the fennec asked.

Nick turned to his old partner, confused as to what he was saying.

“Huh? What are you talking about, Finn? It’s almost dark, we gotta get inside and rest up.”

“Ah, gotcha…” the ghoul replied, his ears lowered. “I’ll just find someplace nearby to lay low for the night. Hey … while you’re in there, why don’t pick me up either something to drink or something to smoke, I don’t really care which.”

“I can pick you up something,” Valentine said. “Got a couple of spare cigars lying around the office somewhere.”

“Why can’t he just go get them himself?” Nick asked, turning to face Valentine and Judy.

“Wait ... You two haven’t told him, have you?” Finnick asked.

“Haven’t told me what, exactly?” Nick asked.

Valentine and Judy shared a glance and the rabbit took a breath.

“Well,” she began. “Ghouls aren’t really… allowed in Diamond City.”

“What?” Nick said, his mouth slightly agape. “Why?”

“I know, I know, it’s a stupid law. But Lionheart campaigned on it, and he’s the mayor, so ...”

“Yeah, after he got elected most of the ghouls in the city moved down to Goodneighbor.” Valentine interjected. “Not that they had much of choice in the matter.”

“Wha-… so you’re telling me that he can’t come inside the city just because he’s all corpsified and gross?”

“Unfortunately,” Valentine said. “Lionheart managed to convince a good chunk of the mammals in the city to be more afraid of ghouls than synths. They couldn’t do anything about synths, but they could do something about the ghouls.”

“Look Wilde, it ain’t a big deal. I know a spot nearby I can hole up in. Ya don’t need to-” Finnick started.

“No, I think I do, Finn,” Nick said firmly. “God, I thought everyone finally got over crap like this, but nope! Even after two hundred years and a few nukes, mammals still find new and creative ways to be assholes for no good reason.”

Nick glared at the gate to Diamond City while Judy, Valentine, and Finnick looked for something to say.

The fox turned back to his companions and sighed, “Well. I guess I have no choice.”

“Look kit, it’s just the way things- what the?” Finnick started before Nick suddenly grabbed the fennec under the arms and began striding forward leaving a stunned Judy and Valentine in his wake.

“Wilde! Get your fucking paws off or I swear I’ll rip them off and shove ‘em-”

“Tsk tsk, Finn. Language.” Nick chided as he walked, wrestled with the struggling Finnick.

The foxes had nearly made it to the gate before Judy and Valentine collected themselves enough to charge after them. Just before they had reached the duo, a guard stepped out in front of Nick, blocking his path.

“Woah, woah, woah,” the hyena guard said, standing a good two feet over the red fox. “The hell do you think you’re doin’, buddy?”

“Oh, nothing officer. Me and my friend were just gonna head into the city, if you don’t mind.”

“Put me down, you asshole!” Finnick protested, though neither the hyena nor fox took any notice.

“Uh well, I do mind.” The hyena stated flatly, but his gaze quickly turned to the rabbit and synth that had just come up behind Nick.

“Valentine, Hopps … this guy with you?” the guard asked.

“Yes he is!” Judy began. “And we can explain this whole thing-”

“There’s nothing to explain,” Nick said defiantly. “We’re going inside.”

“Wait a second …” Sudden recognition dawned on the guard’s face. “You’re that fox from Piper’s article right? The Institute took your son and you went off to find … him ... “

The hyena’s expression fell as he sputtered to a stop, and he looked quickly between Finnick and Nick.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry.”

Nick furrowed his brow in confusion for a moment until he understood why the hyena had apologized. It was all the fox could do to stop himself from bursting out laughing.

“I’M NOT HIS FUCKING SON!” Finnick yelled, renewing his struggle to escape Nick’s arms.

For her part, Judy put up a valiant struggle to keep the smile from her face, but lost in the end.

“What?” The guard asked, bewildered. “I just, I thought-”

“Yes, I’m sure you exercised the whole of your intellect,” Valentine quipped. “Look, the ghoul’s an old pal of Wilde’s, and he wants to go into the city with him.”

“Well sure, but he’s a ghoul …” the guard protested. “We got rules here, you know.”

As they spoke, two other guards, an antelope and raccoon had walked up a few feet behind the hyena to watch the scene unfold with some interest.

“Oh come on, you guys make exceptions all the time!” Judy protested. “How many times have you guards looked the other way after curfew when we used to sneak up to the stands late at night?”

“Well that’s different … you live here!” The hyena said.

“I live here too,” Valentine noted. “And if the old circuits recall, you fine folks made a heck of an exception letting me in.”

“Yeah, but you did a solid for the old mayor!”

“I did. But tell that to the half of that town that would just as soon turn me into scrap metal as share a seat with me at the Dugout. They don’t care who I am, just what.”

“Well they’re morons,” the hyena scoffed. “Everyone knows you’re good people Valentine.”

“But he’s not?” Valentine asked, indicating the scowling ghoul in Nick’s grip. “People, I mean. Lord knows he’s a bit rough around the edges, but so are the Bearborovs, and you don’t see them getting kicked out.”

The hyena turned to the other two guards to look for some kind of assistance or consensus. The antelope shrugged as if to state his indifference, but the racoon said, “Hey, the guy’s got a point boss. And besides, what’s the harm in letting the ghoul in? He starts something, it ain’t hard to make ‘em stop.”

The hyena looked back and forth between his two guards, before turning back to the mammals (and synth) in front of him. His eyes flitted from place to place, and Nick could have sworn he could hear the gears turning in the guard’s head as he considered his options.

“Ok, fine,” the hyena said after an excruciating moment of thought. But a clawed finger shot forth and pointed at Nick. “But, we’ll be watching you. Us guards, I mean. I’ll pass the word not to hassle you, but if I hear even _one_ thing I don’t like, one step outta line … and you’re all out, got it?”

“Loud and clear officer,” Nick said through a smug smile, adding a lazy two finger salute as a flourish.

“That goes for you too Hopps. Same to Valentine.” the hyena warned. “We’re already crossing Lionheart here, so don’t push it ok?”

“Don’t worry,” Judy said as she put a paw on the guard’s arm. “And thank you. You’re doing the right thing.”

Judy flashed a warm smile, one that Nick saw had an immediate soothing effect on the hyena who straightened up and coughed.

“Ok, well then uh … welcome to Diamond City,” he said and moved aside.

Finnick began once more to struggle, but Nick - sensing no need to restrain his friend - quickly let go of the angry fennec.

The four companions stepped through the gates of the city.

“Ah, home sweet home, eh Hopps? Well, anyone else hungry? I could go for a- OUCH!” Nick yelped as Finnick deftly kicked him in the shin.

“YOU,” Finnick growled. “You are a damn MORON, you know that? The fuck were you thinking?” The fennec gave another hard kick to the larger fox’s other shin.

“Easy, easy! Lay off!” Nick whined. “I only have two legs, you know.”

Finnick grumbled something unintelligible and strode forward.

“Yeah, yeah Big Guy … you’re welcome!” Nick called after the angry ghoul.

Glancing over, he saw Judy looking at him with a smile. Mirth twinkled in her eyes, and she asked, “You two always like that? Before the war, I mean?

“No,” Nick said after a long moment in thought. “He was _much_ uglier back then.”


End file.
